Jay Hmielowski, Michael Beam (Kent State), and Myiah Hutchens recently had a paper accepted for publication at the International Journal of Public Opinion research. Their paper looked at whether the effects of TV news viewing on polarization changed after 1996. 1996 serves as an important year because the US Congress passed the 1996 Telecommunication Act, which opened the door to partisan media outlets on cable (e.g., Fox News, which started broadcasting in 1996). Their results showed an increase in polarization post-1996. More importantly, they found that TV new use did not contribute to increased levels of polarization prior to 1996. However, post-1996 they found that the more time spent with TV news was associated with higher levels of polarization.