We often hear comments about today’s “polarized” media environment — how politically charged things are and how hard it is to navigate this media landscape without being pulled into contentious conversations that we’d probably rather avoid. 

But when we speak of “polarization,” what do we mean? How do we define it? How do we measure it? And most importantly, what does it mean for advertisers?

In today’s media environment, “polarization” is often regarded as a synonym for “political”: if content can be categorized as either “left” or “right,” or “liberal” or “conservative” or tagged with any other labels that govern our political discourse, it’s seen as polarized. 

But is that the best way to think about it? At Synexus, we don’t think so. For us, “polarization” is an objective descriptor, and it’s defined not by simplistic political labels, but by language, tone and context.

In today’s complex media landscape, there is a healthy ecosystem of high-quality content representing a wide range of opinions. Progressive and conservative opinions are not necessarily polarizing in and of themselves. They often allow people to work out differences, understand each other better, and find common ground. 

Polarization doesn’t stem from a point of view; it stems from the character and intent of the language used to express that point of view. Language creates polarization when it pits the reader against the subject, or when it seeks to enrage or mislead rather than engage and inform.

Language that fosters rational conversation and debate is good. Readers who are engaged in consuming non-polarizing content are more likely to be in a true information-seeking mode than content that is polarizing. As advertisers, these are the consumers you want to connect with.

Synexus has a method for accurately and objectively identifying polarizing content that enrages rather than engages. Our approach increases ROI for advertisers, while strengthening high-quality online content. To learn more about how Synexus can help you take advantage of non-polarizing, high-quality news content that drives engagement and higher ad campaign performance, reach out to us today.