This adorable fuzzball, of course. Why did the plight of the Panda Cam receive so much attention these last few days? Megan Garber suggests it all comes down to office politics:
When it comes to actually talking about the news – one of the big motivators for news consumption in the first place – coworkers tend to shy away from politically tendentious topics. Which is understandable: The workplace tends to collect people who might otherwise have little in common into close quarters. Why rock the boat? But it’s also a tendency that has significant implications for the kind of news consumption – and news sharing – that people actually do at and from work. The desire to avoid political confrontation, as [communications researcher Pablo] Bocszkowskiput it, “tends to steer people away from the consumption of politically sensitive topics, and move them towards consumption of sports stories, stories celebrity stories — topics that are more innocuous, and lighter in terms of workplace conversations.”
But the need to publicly appear politically neutral also explains the mass appeal of polarizing talk shows:
Discussing politics with your colleagues or neighbors comes with the fear of saying something unacceptable, and subsequently being excluded from the next barbecue or water-cooler conversation. In contrast, “the comfort zones provided by the shows we studied present no such risk,” [sociologist Sarah] Sobieraj and her colleagues write. “In fact, they offer imagined and, in some cases, tangible social connections.”
But why is their pull apparently stronger among conservatives, who gravitate to such programming in much greater numbers than liberals? Based on their interviews, the researchers believe the answer lies in the fact those on the right have more to fear in terms of social condemnation for their views.
(Photo: The giant panda cub born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo August 23 was given a clean bill of health following her first veterinary exam September 16. By Courtney Janney, Smithsonian National Zoological Park)
The Dish 