The Conservative Bubble Influences More than Just Politics

POLITICO's Jonathan Martin gets some good quotes from Ben Domenech, Ross Douthat, Bruce Haynes, and Tray Grayson on the conservative media's isolation from reality.

I have called this problem "the alternative knowledge system," but you don't need to use that clunky name to see the thing.

But here's the next challenge:

The problem with Fox and the rest is not only - or even primarily - that they duped conservatives about Mitt Romney's likely margin in the Electoral College.

The problem is the steady stream of misinformation they feed about basic matters of government: such as that the United States spends $1 trillion a year on "welfare"; or that taxes went up in President Obama's first term ; or that the economy did not grow over the past two years. All false, all frequently reported; all widely believed.

It will be a great first step when conservatives insist upon accurate political information. But the job cannot be considered finished until conservatives reject media that feed them false information about public policy as well.