--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The modern media, with so many options…" description: "\"“The modern media, with so many options tailored to particular views, is a huge exercise in confirmation bias. This means that Americans are not just p..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de9/thomas-m-nichols-8933_fitness_the-modern-media-with-so-many-options-ta_450450.jpg" --- # The modern media, with so many options tailored to… ![“The modern media, with so many options tailored to particular views, is a huge exercise in confirmation bias. This means that Americans are not just poorly informed, they’re misinformed.” quote by Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de9/thomas-m-nichols-8933_fitness_the-modern-media-with-so-many-options-ta_450450.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de9/thomas-m-nichols-8933_fitness_the-modern-media-with-so-many-options-ta_450450.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de9/thomas-m-nichols-8933_fitness_the-modern-media-with-so-many-options-ta_450450.jpg) > ““The modern media, with so many options tailored to particular views, is a huge exercise in confirmation bias. This means that Americans are not just poorly informed, they’re misinformed.”” [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Tailored media reinforces existing views, leading to misinformation rather than just ignorance. **In simple terms:** Selective media creates false beliefs. Key Takeaway Seek diverse sources for balanced understanding. Themes media bias misinformation confirmation bias Mood concerned analytical Type academic informational When to use this quote - news consumption - social media - education - policy making Key Concepts communication studies political science cognitive psychology Questions to Reflect On - What steps can you take to diversify your news diet? - How does bias affect decision making? A Different Perspective Overcoming bias requires effort and openness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Confirmation Bias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confirmation-bias-698107/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [Informed Misinformed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/informed-misinformed-3933159/) [Journalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journalism/) [Misinformed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misinformed/) [Modern media](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modern-media-124112/) [Poorly Informed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poorly-informed-3933160/) ## Related quotes > [“The foundational knowledge of the average American is now so low that it has crashed through the floor of “uninformed,” passed “misinformed” on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/the-foundational-knowledge-of-the-average-american-is-now-so-low-that/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“In modern life outside of the academy, however, arguments and debates have no external review. Facts come and go as people find convenient at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/in-modern-life-outside-of-the-academy-however-arguments-and-debates/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“the modern media is the mass media and they understand only four things. Every story carried by the modern media involves one of these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-watson/the-modern-media-is-the-mass-media-and-they-understand-only-four/) [Paul Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-watson/) > [Just as characteristic, perhaps, is the intellectual interdependence created through the development of the modern media of communication: post, telegraph, telephone, and popular press.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-lous-lange/just-as-characteristic-perhaps-is-the-intellectual-interdependence/) [Christian Lous Lange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-lous-lange/) > [The modern media environment is so overrun with bullshit and static and people trying to sell you stupid crap. It makes you want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-listi/the-modern-media-environment-is-so-overrun-with-bullshit-and-static/) [Brad Listi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-listi/) > [Modern media has a real tendency to focus on the divisions rather than the commonalities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-young/modern-media-has-a-real-tendency-to-focus-on-the-divisions-rather/) [Todd Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-young/) > [There is no business model in the modern media that promotes comity. If we worried too much about criticism, we wouldn't get out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pfeiffer/there-is-no-business-model-in-the-modern-media-that-promotes-comity/) [Daniel Pfeiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pfeiffer/) > [I am not good at dealing with the modern media. I have not felt I have been as effective as I should be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/estelle-morris-baroness-morris-of-yardley/i-am-not-good-at-dealing-with-the-modern-media-i-have-not-felt-i-have/) [Estelle Morris, Baroness Morris of Yardley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/estelle-morris-baroness-morris-of-yardley/) > [The anorexic is the fuse nakedly exposed to the direct power of modern media, a psyche whose wiring has no insulation. The anorexic is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/the-anorexic-is-the-fuse-nakedly-exposed-to-the-direct-power-of/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [In the modern media age we are rarely surprised by what we see. Whether it's on television or film or in the theatre, everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-atkinson/in-the-modern-media-age-we-are-rarely-surprised-by-what-we-see/) [Rowan Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-atkinson/) > [“Being ignorant is truly bliss compared to being misinformed, especially if you’re aware of the depths of your own ignorance. As Mother says, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-m-stirling/being-ignorant-is-truly-bliss-compared-to-being-misinformed/) [S.M. Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-m-stirling/) > [Those who do not read the news are uninformed. Those who do are misinformed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/those-who-do-not-read-the-news-are-uninformed-those-who-do-are/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“Chief Factors Limiting Access to Facts: 1)Artificial censorship 2)Limitations of social contact 3)Comparatively meager time in a day for paying attention to public affairs.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lippmann/chief-factors-limiting-access-to-facts-1-artificial-censorship-2/) [Walter Lippmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-lippmann/) > [If you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-do-read-the-newspaper-you-are-misinformed/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I was not wrong. I was just misinformed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/i-was-not-wrong-i-was-just-misinformed/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) ## More by Thomas M. Nichols > [“Conspiracy theorists manipulate all tangible evidence to fit their explanation, but worse, they will also point to the absence of evidence as even stronger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/conspiracy-theorists-manipulate-all-tangible-evidence-to-fit-their/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“Today, by contrast, students explode over imagined slights that are not even remotely in the same category as fighting for civil rights or being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/today-by-contrast-students-explode-over-imagined-slights-that-are-not/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“And when voters lose control of these important decisions, they risk the hijacking of their democracy by ignorant demagogues, or the more quiet and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/and-when-voters-lose-control-of-these-important-decisions-they-risk/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“As the economic writer Ben Casselman pointed out in 2016, most college applicants “never have to write a college entrance essay, pad a résumé…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/as-the-economic-writer-ben-casselman-pointed-out-in-2016-most-college/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“People do not come to the Internet so that their bad information can be corrected or their cherished theories disproven. Rather, they ask the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/people-do-not-come-to-the-internet-so-that-their-bad-information-can/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“If the public has no idea about the substance of an issue, and will vote based on who they like rather than what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/if-the-public-has-no-idea-about-the-substance-of-an-issue-and-will/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“The issue is not indifference to established knowledge; it’s the emergence of a positive hostility to such knowledge. This is new in American culture,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/the-issue-is-not-indifference-to-established-knowledge-it-s-the/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“At the root of all this is an inability among laypeople to understand that experts being wrong on occasion about certain issues is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/at-the-root-of-all-this-is-an-inability-among-laypeople-to-understand/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“The requirements of a degree in a STEM field (science, technology, engineering, mathematics), a demanding foreign language, or a rigorous degree in the humanities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/the-requirements-of-a-degree-in-a-stem-field-science-technology/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“In 2015, a Massachusetts accountant named Stephen Pasceri lost his seventy-eight-year-old mother to cardiovascular disease. Mrs. Pasceri had a long history of health trouble,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/in-2015-a-massachusetts-accountant-named-stephen-pasceri-lost-his/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/there-is-a-cult-of-ignorance-in-the-united-states-and-there-always/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“Americans no longer distinguish the phrase “you’re wrong” from the phrase “you’re stupid.” To disagree is to disrespect. To correct another is to insult.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/americans-no-longer-distinguish-the-phrase-you-re-wrong-from-the/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“There aren’t enough pages in this or any other book to catalog the amount of bad information on the Internet. Miracle cures, conspiracy theories,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/there-aren-t-enough-pages-in-this-or-any-other-book-to-catalog-the/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“Populism actually reinforces this elitism, because the celebration of ignorance cannot launch communications satellites, negotiate the rights of US citizens overseas, or provide for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/populism-actually-reinforces-this-elitism-because-the-celebration-of/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“Just as we are not all equally able to carry a tune or draw a straight line, many people simply cannot recognize the gaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/just-as-we-are-not-all-equally-able-to-carry-a-tune-or-draw-a/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) [Explore all 76 Thomas M. Nichols quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) ## More Fitness quotes > [I train my muscles, and I do a lot of stretching, and try to kick higher. 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