Fox News Viewers Know Less Than People Who Don't Watch Any News: Study

[onehandle]

Source: Huffington Post

Fox News viewers are less informed than people who don't watch any news, according to a new poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

The poll surveyed New Jersey residents about the uprisings in Egypt and the Middle East, and where they get their news sources. The study, which controlled for demographic factors like education and partisanship, found that "people who watch Fox News are 18-points less likely to know that Egyptians overthrew their government" and "6-points less likely to know that Syrians have not yet overthrown their government" compared to those who watch no news.

Overall, 53% of all respondents knew that Egyptians successfully overthrew Hosni Mubarak and 48% knew that Syrians have yet to overthrow their government.

Dan Cassino, a political science professor at Fairleigh Dickinson, explained in a statement, "Because of the controls for partisanship, we know these results are not just driven by Republicans or other groups being more likely to watch Fox News. Rather, the results show us that there is something about watching Fox News that leads people to do worse on these questions than those who don’t watch any news at all."

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/21/fox-news-viewers-less-informed-people-fairleigh-dickinson_n_1106305.html

---

Shocked. I am shocked!

[theoldman]

1. Fox has news?

[MurrayDelph]

23. No, Fox

has "News"

[ffr]

46. This must be the channel blocked on my TV

Wish there was a way to block GOP radio stations too. Eh, someday.

[zinnisking]

74. There is on satellite radio

had them blocked since day one.

[donquijoterocket]

113. I believe

There's currently a manual procedure for accomplishing that it's called the frequency selector dial or the off/on switch will accomplish the same thing.Television will work the same way in the absence of automatic blocking via your input mode. There's almost always a manual alternative to the automatic methods.

[cstanleytech]

56. Yes, they just dont have much time to report it because of the campaigning they do for the GOP.

[slay]

64. People should print a dozen copies of this story and use it as their placemats for Thanksgiving

i'm sure that would make for some lively discussion - and may be the only truth some relatives will see or hear all year - if they watch foxnoise.

[olegramps]

95. I never dreamed I would see "1984" become a reality.

[appleannie1]

2. Heck, I did not need a poll to tell me that. Fairy tales are more informative than FOX.

[Gregorian]

3. That's because it's propaganda, not news.

At least in part, if not wholly.

[orpupilofnature57]

4. Whats the difference between ignorance and apathy?

[jberryhill]

10. I don't know, and I don't care /nt

[meow2u3]

81. I don't WANT to know, and I don't care n/t

[Uben]

5. In other words, republicans are ignorant. Who knew?

George Bush was one of the smart ones, in their eyes, so that shows just how fucked they are!

They must be too damn busy taking baths and getting jobs to get an education.

[lbrtbell]

34. Taking baths and getting jobs....

Republicans bathe in bile and get jobs stealing flies from blind spiders.

[stevebreeze]

102. actually they allowed for partisanship. It's not Its Fox viewers regardless of party.

So republicans who watch Fox are less informed then Republicans who do not.

[ieoeja]

118. Earlier study even found that Liberals who watch FNC believed more falsehoods than non-FNC viewers.

People who just want to keep a tab on what the Rabid Right are talking about end up falling for some of the spin and lies themselves. Even when they use reliable media sources in addition to FNC.

Bottom line: if you watch FNC regularly, whether you agree with them or not, you are going to end up stupid.

One of the reasons I have FNC blocked on my cable box.

[brucefan]

6. Will Fox report this tidbit?

No.So their viewers will never hear it.

[rfranklin]

7. However, some MSNBC viewers are also woefully ignorant...

New Jerseyans are not necessarily more likely to be knowledgeable about domestic
politics than international events. Just 47% are able to identify the Occupy Wall Street
protesters as predominantly Democratic: 11 % think they are Republicans. Viewers of
cable news on MSNBC are the most likely to think the protestors are Republicans.
Watching the left-leaning MSNBC news channel is associated with a 10-point increase
in the likelihood of misidentifying the protesters.

http://publicmind.fdu.edu/2011/knowless/

I find this very hard to believe.

[JDPriestly]

41. The people polled watched Morning Joe, not Rachel Maddow.

MSNBC has a broad spectrum of points of view.

Viewers probably think of Dylan Ratigan who is libertarian and thus, kind of included as a Republican. He was a supporter of OWS when it started.

[valerief]

89. MSNBC is mostly right wing crap. Just ask Mrs. Greenspan. nt

[Ian David]

8. However, they know all about the War on Christmas! n/t

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

9. Anyone ever notice the main announcer of programming on Fox and his sing-song cadence?

His inflections are as annoying as hell and he makes everything sound like an infomercial for some new kind of kitchen utensil. Everything on that network is a product and is sold like a product. I think people may have their TV sets on, but their minds aren't. Since Fox is packaged like one long brainwashing, merchandising commercial, people are giving the programs as much conscious attention as they might give to the average TV ad.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. FOX has discovered how to suck information OUT OF people's heads.

[rurallib]

12. be interesting to see how they do on a US history test

or citizenship test against some new citizens.

(Geo. Washington was the first bishop of the US)

[reggie the dog]

13. not shocking

the "dont watch any news" category includes many people like me who read their news and dont own a tv

[SnakeEyes]

14. I don't trust this study...

Results also suggest that people that watch MSNBC also know less.

[Kali]

26. teevee makes you stoopid

[sofa king]

15. It's such a fine line between stupid, and uh....

[russspeakeasy]

16. I just wish it hadn't come from huffington..it makes me question it.

[onehandle]

18. The poll is from Fairleigh Dickinson University. HuffPo is just reporting it. nt

[rfranklin]

20. It is not a Huffington study merely a story about the study...

There's a link to the study in the story.

Fox News viewers are less informed than people who don't watch any news, according to a new poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

http://publicmind.fdu.edu/2011/knowless/

[TheWraith]

27. This, at least, I suspect they're trustworthy on.

It's only on science, medicine, sociology, basic prioritization skills, sanity in choosing their columnists, and anything relating to Democrats that they are unreliable.

[russspeakeasy]

29. Thanks for the chuckle, I needed that..

:hi:

[and-justice-for-all]

17. Surprise!!!!

not really.

[Journeyman]

19. Well yes. "Ignorant" people can rely on common sense. "Fox" viewers heads are filled with lies. . .

Absent any knowledge, the uninformed will see that charges the President is "foreign born," or that his wife and children "don't like being in the White House" are patently false on the face of it. Common sense dictates this conclusion. But the same person, their head filled with the straw of Faux outrage, labors under a disadvantage. Their common sense can't come to the fore, since all the baggage of misinformation stands between them and the simple truths they would instinctively know to be true.

So yes, I find it quite plausible that the ignorant are more informed than the deceived. It seems a very self-evident truth to me.

[Rozlee]

39. Keeping their heads filled with useless outrage and non-issues helps too.

Obama wears slacks to walk the beach to investigate the oil spill instead of more "serviceable" clothes. This was ranted over and over about for a week. Then, he can't order from a menu unless he has a teleprompter. They carried this one forever, with their pundits and talk hosts gleefully joking over and over about it. Of course, now they say that Obama's slick orating skills will naturally clobber the "plain-spoken" GOP candidate's "sincere" message. They nitpick Michelle Obama's healthy diet initiatives; Obama bowing to the Japanese Emperor (I guess Bush holding hands and smooching with Saudi Kings and Princes was OK), his not attending a boy scout jamboree, his long vacations (Bush was the Vacation President), and always, his birth certificate, his socialism and other batshit crazy crap. None of it is relevant and it's on the level of high school mean girls.

[cstanleytech]

57. You forgot the bigotry and racism they help fuel.

[jaysunb]

129. THAT, is their mainstay. n/t

[mwb970]

77. Remember when Obama had un-American mustard on a burger?

They kicked that one around for over a week.

[certainot]

21. most of the lies and myths are not sold on fox, but with radio repetition

fox cannot sell the lies and myths that drive the republicans and the teabagger base

many is not most fox watchers go there to put visual icing on the talk radio lie turd pie

[AsahinaKimi]

22. Files this under the "No duh!" section ..

The people who run that network, and work in it have always been imaging what it would be like to be real journalists of integrity, but their blind ideology has always lead them in the wrong direction, right off the deep end.

[saras]

24. It ain't what you don't know, it's what you know that just ain't so

[katty]

25. Ha!! We could have told you that!

[Turbineguy]

28. I had a Math Professor like that once.

You could walk into his class knowing something and an hour later walk out, not knowing it any more.

[nineteen50]

30. They should be stripped of their teaching credentials and

run by an alternative media until their viewers get their
grades up.

[TygrBright]

31. Quelle surprise. n/t

[Dont call me Shirley]

32. FAX Noise = GOP TV

[freshwest]

33. +1,000

[RedCloud]

35. They learn anti-news, so no surprise there.

[FarLeftFist]

36. AND THE SKY IS BLUE AND THE SUN IS HOT AND THE MOON CONTROLS THE TIDES!

[CatholicEdHead]

115. Not according to Bill O'Rilley on the Tides

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb3AFMe2OQY

Tide goes in, tide goes out, you can't explain that. :rolleyes: :rofl: :wtf:

Fun starts at 1:54

Even better:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyHzhtARf8M&feature=related

:rofl:

[FarLeftFist]

123. Thank you for that. The irony of THAT and the headline of this thread is priceless.

[Kashka-Kat]

37. GIVES NEW MEANING to the word "disinformation".

[Initech]

38. Fox News epic fail.

[TBF]

40. They needed a study to make that determination? nt

[sakabatou]

42. Oh that's hilarious!

[Sarah Ibarruri]

43. Who'd a thunk it!? nt

[ChairmanAgnostic]

44. Fox make me stoopid? Pruve it!

Dam libruls.

[varelse]

45. how is that even possible?

damn

I am impressed.

[glowing]

47. And of course, those watching Fox News will never hear about this study

and they will not know that they are being lied to and look like complete idiots to the rest of the world.. even those who barely catch any news at all.

[Beartracks]

48. You Fauxnooze, you lose. n/t

[lonestarnot]

49. Bwaaaa ha ha ha aha hah ah ha ha ha ROFLMAO

:rofl: Good let's just steam roll them then.

[The Wizard]

50. Pox

Television's black hole where truth goes to disappear.

[Little Tich]

51. So Fox News is not only blatantly biased, it also makes you uninformed..

Wow!

[OnyxCollie]

52. No new revelations here.

MISPERCEPTIONS, THE MEDIA AND THE IRAQ WAR
http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/pdf/oct03/IraqMedia_Oct03_rpt.pdf

Misperceptions According to Level of Attention to News

While it would seem that misperceptions are derived from a failure to pay attention to the news, overall, those who pay greater attention to the news are no less likely to have misperceptions. Among those who primarily watch Fox, those who pay more attention are more likely to have misperceptions. Only those who mostly get their news from print media, and to some extent those who primarily watch CNN, have fewer misperceptions as they pay more attention.

It would seem natural to assume that misperceptions are due to a failure to pay attention to news and that those who have greater exposure to news would have fewer misperceptions. This was indeed the case with those primarily get their news from print media. However, for most media outlets, increased attention did not reduce the likelihood of misperceptions. Most striking, in the case of those who primarily watched Fox News, greater attention to news modestly increases the likelihood of misperceptions.

All respondents were asked: “How closely are you following the news about the situation in Iraq now?” For the summer as a whole (June, July, August-September), 56% said they were following very (13%) or somewhat (43%) closely, while 43% said they were following the situation not very closely (29%) or not closely at all (14%).

[eridani]

53. "Not watchiing news" isn't very well defined

If they mean internet junkies without TVs, no surprise. But what about people who don't follow news at all in any medium?

[madamesilverspurs]

54. So do they know less before they watch Fox?

Or does watching Fox cause them to know less?


Either way, it's true.

[Grassy Knoll]

55. DUH !

[ThoughtCriminal]

58. List of people who know less than Fox News viewers...

.
.
.
:shrug:
.
.

[caseymoz]

107. George W. Bush, Herman Cain, Rick Perry . . .

That's at least three. If you watch Fox News, you probably know more than most GOP candidates.

[ThoughtCriminal]

124. I'm pretty sure all of those people watch Fox News

So they would fall into the same group. No way are they going to peek outside the bubble.

[Historic NY]

59. Fox News fairly unbalanced.

[madrchsod]

60. duh.....

[SoapBox]

61. Well.....................DUH!

...no shit Sherlock.

[alfredo]

62. And they are willing to kill to preserve their ignorance.

[slay]

63. I am honestly not surprised - which is sad - Rupert Murdoch is intentionally making people dumber

we need to adopt Canada's law where it is illegal to lie on the NEWS - you know - cause it's supposed to be NEWS. Either that or make them remove the word "news" from foxnews. More like Foxlies.

[bluethruandthru]

75. Agree 1000 percent!

If it's called "news" there should be a reasonable attempt made at telling the truth!

[newspeak]

92. yes, we need a law against lying to the public

I think murdoch only became a US citizen because of his sleazy business dealings. I believe he couldn't own more than one propaganda business without being a citizen. To me, he has done more harm to this country, dividing the plebes and carrying water for the repugs-kind of up there with lee atwater and karl rove.

[avaistheone1]

65. From those that I know watch Fox News, I have found this to be quite true.

k&r

:kick:

[RoccoR5955]

66. So I guess it's safe to say that Fox "News" viewers know...

less than nothing!
That sounds about right.

[DirkGently]

67. Yes, Faux News actively removes knowledge from people's heads. A ray literally shoots from the tv.

But we knew this already.

:evilgrin:

[sakabatou]

68. Also...

"Exposure to Sunday morning news shows helps respondents on this question: seeing these programs leads to an 11-point increase in the likelihood of getting the answer right. Listening to NPR also helps, but the biggest aid to answering correctly is The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, which leads to a 6-point decrease in identifying the (Occupy) protestors as Republicans, and a 12-point increase in the likelihood of giving the correct answer."

So if you watch Jon Stewart, you're more likely to get answers correct and are more informed. Sad isn't it?

[greiner3]

69. DUH!

[No Elephants]

70. Did Fox viewers know that another study a few months ago came to the same conclusion?

[truthisfreedom]

71. If the word NEWS was regulated,

Faux would be fined into oblivion.

[Brettlyle]

72. At least 26 dead, mass demonstration called for.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15831733">BBC News

With more death, and more protests against the regime, it's not unreasonable to say the earlier protests failed. The question wasn't 'Did the protests force Mubarak to step down?' which would be a yes/no answer, but 'To the best of your knowledge, have the opposition groups protesting in Egypt been successful in
bringing down the regime there?' The ongoing current protests show that 'No' is a reasonable answer to that question.

In any sort of survey like this, the questions are very important. Essentially, the person setting the questions gives themselves the right to determine the absolute truth of complicated issues, and then judge everyone else as 'right or wrong' based on whether they agree with the questioners idea of truth. Problematic, to say the least.

[Doctor_J]

79. I think you need to head back to Fox Nation, Brettlyle

The only "problematic" thing is that morans like you think they're getting news when they watch Fox hour after hour. Do you also think that 780 billion dollars in tax revenues would be a "drop in the bucket" toward closing the deficit, while cutting 1 million from PBS would be a "major step"? that's what Fox viewers were told a couple months ago.

Shoo. We don't like ignorami around here.

[Name removed]

82. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[jeff47]

85. Moran is mocking a sign from Tea Party protests where the teabagger misspelled moron.

Memes! How do they work?!

[pinboy3niner]

86. Actually, it pre-dates the Tea Party--it's from an Iraq War supporter in 2003

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/get-a-brain-morans

[Brettlyle]

87. How do memes work?

When they're used cleverly and appropriately.

Simply misspelling moron whenever you talk to someone you disagree with is neither clever nor appropriate.

[valerief]

88. Bwahahaha, you've lost your cover! It's hughly seriesly 'moran'. It always has been.

:rofl:

Memes work when you 'get them'.

[newspeak]

90. when faux news numerous times

puts a (d) behind the name of the congresscritter's name and they're actually (r), you know they think their audience are ignorant and they can feed them any shite they want, especially if it panders to their audiences' preconceived ignorant ideas. Doing an error once could be considered a mistake, doing it numerous times, it seems it's intentional.

When one of their talking heads refuses to lie on the telly and they fire her--she sues them and the judge basically determines that faux news can fabricate to the public; well, I think there's a problem with integrity.

[caseymoz]

112. You're making yourself dumber defending ignorance here.

Questions can be slanted, but, no, not here. To argue that the viewers were simply more nuanced in their interpretation of the news than the questioner is just a further error on top of the respondents, especially when the comparison they were given to Egypt was Syria, who haven't even succeeded in the first stage as Egypt has. (Not to mention the Egypt news wasn't breaking when the survey was taken.) You can't do worse than denying ignorance by claiming judgmental people are missing the respondents more sublime level of sophistication for a clearly wrong answer.

I'd say you outFoxed Fox. Apparently its effects have penetrated deep into your cerebral cortex. You've now reached the level of Fox News Host. Congratulations.

[deacon]

73. LOL! This is the funniest headline of 2011. n/t

[Enthusiast]

76. Hell, we knew that.

CNN viewers don't know shit, either.

[moondust]

78. Mission Accomplished!

Zombie brain suckers!

[SmittynMo]

80. Current GOP candidates

Fox News viewers are less informed than people who don't watch any news, according to a new poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Awesome!!!!

Kinda tells me where the current GOP clowns get their information. "Libya", hmmmmmmm, Libya". There is just no fix for stupid.

[krispos42]

83. Well, that's a given, Fairleigh Dickenson University

[CRK7376]

84. Does this mean that

Fox is LameStream Media?

[DFW]

91. This is the Pledge of those who do NOT believe what they see on Fox:

I pledge no credence to the bag
Of lies Fox tells to America
And to the injustice, for which it stands,
One station, shunned by God,
With Hannity, disgusting for all.

[Beavker]

93. My company used to always have HNN on in the lobby

Now it's Faux News. I'm guessing they are trying to do their part for the anti-OWS oligarch crowd.

No wonder we're failing...

[Blue Owl]

94. There is Murdoch's legacy

He made millions deceiving and making other human beings stupid.

[Islandlife]

96. Sensational

Don't fall for it

[Uncle Joe]

97. Those results aren't surprising, all that money being spent 24/7 to spew one sided propaganda

must be getting some results.

Murdoch must be pleased, it's not wiretapping but if enough people are dumbed down, you don't need to blackmail them in order to get the desired result.


Thanks for the thread, onehandle.

[Name removed]

98. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[thucythucy]

101. And I give you all

exhibit A.

[NoGOPZone]

103. That's some command of the language you've got there. nt

[Scout]

104. LOL your user name is appropriate for your post content! n/t

[Uncle Joe]

108. Rage Demon, here is some theme music for your stay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNcl0L7eJUY

[fascisthunter]

111. view points... wrong... they are called LIES

Lies are not a point of view and never will be.

[Mosaic]

99. Make this a Viral Meme!

We all know this, the informed. Now it's time for ALL of America to know this. Tell family and friends at Thanksgiving!

[darth marth]

100. We need to take our public airwaves back from them- this proves they are not serving the public

I was trying to brainstorm about this on another thread, but people don't seem to think that this is a problem....

How do we take OUR PUBLIC AIRWAVES back from the corporate liars?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2361998

They must prove they serve the public or have their license revoked

It doesn’t have to be this way. America lets radio and TV broadcasters use public airwaves worth more than half a trillion dollars for free. In return, we require that broadcasters serve the public interest: devoting at least some airtime for worthy programs that inform voters, support local arts and culture and educate our children — in other words, that aspire to something beyond just minimizing costs and maximizing revenue.

Using the public airwaves is a privilege — a lucrative one — not a right, and I fear the F.C.C. has not done enough to stand up for the public interest. Our policies should reward broadcasters that honor their pledge to serve that interest and penalize those that don’t.

The F.C.C. already has powerful leverage to hold broadcasters to their end of the bargain. Every eight years, broadcasters must prove that they have served the public interest in order to get license renewal. If they can’t, the license goes to someone else who will.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/02/opinion/02copps.html?pagewanted=all

[stevebreeze]

105. It's also worth noting that Daily Show viewer's did very well too.

[arthritisR_US]

106. it is called "willful ignorance" imo. n/t

[fascisthunter]

109. The Most Ignorant Know-Nothings this country has to Endure

loud mouth idiots!

[caseymoz]

110. Fox News: Striving for a dumber world. nt

[DuaneBidoux]

114. I think this interpretation could be wrong. They don't know less--they "know" lies.

They are filled with misinformation. If a questionnaire is designed in a specific way this may come across as knowing less but if a group of people are purposely filled with false information it may well come across as knowing less.

The bad part is that believing lies as truth is probably actually worse than knowing nothing.

[malaise]

116. Duh!!

Not shocked!

[onehandle]

117. Shocked. I am still shocked! nt

[radhika]

119. They set the stage for 2011's Repug Clown Car candidates....n/t

[SpankMe]

120. Color me suprised. n/t

[Jack Rabbit]

121. Mission Accomplished

FoxNews exists to misinform the public and make gullible a segment of the population that believes they must be subservient to the whims of corporate masters or believe those old Horatio Alger fairy tales about hard work and avoiding labor organizers will make the hero prosperous in the end.

And yet, Sean Hannity, in lieu of reporting the results of this poll, will continue to say that FoxNews provides the truth. That's right, the Truth. Just like the Bushies did prior to invading Iraq.

[ieoeja]

122. Conservative opposition to education pre-dates the founding of this country.

John Adams first rose to fame fighting against the appointment of a judge who argued that the public schools should be shut down because they were failing, etc. Letters made public after his death spoke of the need to shut down the schools because they were working too well causing people to stop "listening to their betters".

Prior to the US Civil War every northern state had public education and well over a 90% literacy rate. The literacy rate in the south, counting free white men only, was under 50%. Not a single southern state had public education. One even outlawed public education so no municipality or county could create one either.

So it is hardly surprising that FNC isn't just rightist, it appears to be pro-ignorance altogether.

[LiberalLovinLug]

130. "listening to their betters"

Nothing has changed has it.

That's exactly how the REAL entitled elite feel about the great unwashed masses. They feel so damn superior that they altered the meaning of Christianity to a definition that if you are wealthy God loves you, and if you are poor, disabled, old, unemployed, you must be in the Devil's camp. So God shines on them so they are worshiped by those that carry their water for them like FAUX News talking heads.

[Bill USA]

125. recommended. bookmarked.

[mvd]

126. That's because FAUX is worse than no news

Instead of just plain not knowing about the world, people get told lies that are the opposite of what is really happening! K&R.

[marias23]

127. Now we know why Cain

doesn't know anything

[GreenTea]

128. Fox viewers will NEVER believe nor accept the truth or facts...........

They are in their own little controlled world, republican propaganda world and of course they say their not, because they know nothing else but what is told to them......­.

So of course they are most uninformed and most uneducated stupidest, frighten fearful, afraid of change and most partisan because they watch Fox no-news lies 24/7.

They repeat everything told to them word for word every time they open their hateful uninformed mouths (just like the sheep they are) repeat everything they heard verbatim by the pigman or Fox no-news ---- Fox viewers have no original thoughts, never research for themselves, they have no minds of their own!!

[DaveJ]

131. Fox News makes the unknowledgable feel good about themselves.

Same can be said for the Republican party.
It, frankly, is an edge they've had for a long time. I wish we could get more of the "stupid demographic".

[marasinghe]

132. chicken little corpse ripe for the plucking.

cue the wendi deng takeover on behalf of the Chinese overlords, when murdoch bites his ass; and they'll have their new captive audience of two billion.

[sarcasmo]

133. Whenever I hear Fox news I think, Forrest Gump.