Politics DMZ: Editor's Welcome

Rich Rubino, Managing Editor.

With the proliferation of new media sources, Americans are becoming increasingly isolated from divergent political persuasions. For example, liberals naturally gravitate toward media that is sympathetic to their viewpoints. They are likely to get their news from MSNBC and CNN, and are likely to read the editorial pages of the New York Times and listen to NPR on their car radios. Conversely, many conservatives are regular watchers of Fox News, are likely to purchase a copy of the Wall Street Journal, and are likely to listen to conservative talk shows on the radio.

In many areas of the country there are two local newspapers, each catering to an ideology. For example, in Massachusetts conservatives can read the Boston Herald while liberals can peruse the Boston Globe. Chicago has the conservative Chicago Tribune and the liberal Chicago Sun Times. In our nation’s capital, conservatives can pick up the Washington Times, while liberals can read at the Washington Post.

Moreover, many Americans come from locales with near monolithic political viewpoints and rarely hear diverse or contravening points of view. Residents of Provo, Utah, Sugar Land, Texas, and Independence, Kansas are more likely to converse with conservatives. Alternatively, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Oakland, California, and Alexandria, Virginia, liberals tend to have their views supported by their neighbors and are rarely challenged for the opinions.

The result of all this is that we tend to think of politics in absolute terms, and when we do hear deviating points of view, we tend to see them as radical and out of the mainstream. The reality is that Americans hold a wide array of views.

Introducing: PoliticsDMZ. DMZ is short for demilitarized zone, a neutral place where dialogue and, friendly debate are. encouraged, our hope is that this web site will begin to change this by effectuating political dialogue across the political divide. In our online community, we will encourage readers of all political stripes to join the political dialogue. Our DMZ Blog will feature frequent columns providing analysis and commentary that spans the political divide. Our discussion section will allow contributors to submit their own pieces, or begin their own discussions and comment on articles from other contributors.

I believe it is always healthy to examine and dissect our individual political view point and that we can all learn from each other if we engage in civil political discourse with those from outside of our political comfort zone.