March 05, 2014 11:32 AM UTC

"Gay Marriage" Issue Shows Siloed Media Consumption

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• by: Colorado Pols

Fascinating story from our friends at "The Fix" on the issue of "gay marriage," which is now supported by a majority of Americans:

Here's what (most) amazing to us. Only among those who strongly favor same-sex marriage are a majority aware that a majority of the country supports that position. Equally fascinating is that just more than one in five (22 percent) of those who oppose gay marriage believe a majority of the country supports it.  And those numbers are even smaller (19 percent) among those who strongly oppose same sex marriage.

How to explain such a disconnect?  By self-sorting within the electorate and the silo-ing of media consumption. That is, increasingly people live in homogenous communities with people who share similar likes, dislikes and, yes, political persuasions.  And, not surprisingly, the way in which they consume information, too, has become increasingly isolated/isolating.  Liberals watch Rachel Maddow, read liberal blogs and listen to liberal radio/podcasts. Conservatives listen to Rush Limbaugh, watch Fox News Channel and read conservative blogs. The twain never meet. They are ships passing in the political night.

Follow the link for a great graphic outlining the vast differences between how people think they view "gay marriage."