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

Tue Nov 22, 2011 4:08 am » by **Mikemess**

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

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/2 ... 06305.html

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."

This isn't the first study that has found that Fox News viewers more misinformed in comparison to others. Last year, a study from the University of Maryland found that Fox News viewers were more likely to believe false information about politics.

Tue Nov 22, 2011 4:20 am » by **Mikemess**

I knew that already but just had to post it...lol

Tue Nov 22, 2011 4:24 am » by **Muchtyman**

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

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/2 ... 06305.html

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."

This isn't the first study that has found that Fox News viewers more misinformed in comparison to others. Last year, a study from the University of Maryland found that Fox News viewers were more likely to believe false information about politics.

Would that be after GB left or before ? ...................... :lol:

Tue Nov 22, 2011 5:11 am » by **The57ironman**

muchtyman wrote:Would that be after GB left or before ? ......................

yeah.....what's the answer to that one....?

Tue Nov 22, 2011 6:10 am » by **Constabul**

The first factor in determining this is a false story is, the location of the poll.
New Jersey

The second factor is the source, a liberal news outlet writing about a conservative news outlet.
Yeah you're gonna get unbiased there.. :badair:

Third is the content of the questionnaire, subject matter about uprisings in egypt and the middle east.

Story debunked.
Should be moved to topic Hoax/Disinfo

:peep:

Tue Nov 22, 2011 6:56 am » by **Santaownsyou**

Debunked? I'd fall for that if it weren't proven day after day right here on the threads. Good try though, I can guarantee you that the Fox news crowd will fall for it, right before they watch "The Turtle Man."

"He got dirt from his toes up to his nose"

Tue Nov 22, 2011 7:15 am » by **Constabul**

Whatever floats your boat, if you think a poll of yahoos from New Jersey properly gauges what the article claims, well have at it. Or that a liberal publication such as the huffington post is going to approach such a topic w/o bias, well tell ya what, I have some carbon credits to sell..
:roll:

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Regardless of the absurdity :flop:

Tue Nov 22, 2011 9:02 am » by **Middleman**

constabul wrote:The first factor in determining this is a false story is, the location of the poll.
New Jersey

Herp, derp, New Jersey, must be biased or corrupt, and nobody watches Fox News in that state. :oops:

Am I interpreting that correctly, or did you have some actual logical point to make with that sentence?

constabul wrote:The second factor is the source, a liberal news outlet writing about a conservative news outlet.
Yeah you're gonna get unbiased there..

Ever heard the term "don't shoot the messenger"?

I agree that the actual study looks pretty weak (something like 60 or 70 college student subjects, not exactly a good sample of a typical Fox audience), but it's findings were reported accurately.

The reason I know is because I took 5 minutes of my life to read the source, which they cite at the bottom of the article.

constabul wrote:Third is the content of the questionnaire, subject matter about uprisings in egypt and the middle east.

Because if it happens outside the US, it's not worth knowing, right Cunstabol?

Tue Nov 22, 2011 9:12 am » by **Cia212**

I wonder how they "controlled for demographic factors like education and partisanship". It's a little suspicious when you have to search 3 documents to find basic poll factors. For example, while NJ population voted in the last presidential election as 41.61% Republican and 57.14% Democrat, this poll shows:
Party ID
Dem. + lean Dem. 43%
ind. + unsure + ref. 23%
Rep. + lean Rep. 34%
One could then conclude that being an Independent is the causative factor in this result...something I doubt, but it shows that the poll has some serious problems. You could also say that former Democrats are the problem - but you'd have to give them credit for trying to change.

There was a similar poll where it was later learned that disagreeing or questioning Obama policy was considered a wrong answer. For example, thinking that "it is not clear that Obama was born in the United States" was considered the same as believing false information. Or saying that "their own income taxes have gone up" is believing false information...this could easily be true if their income went up even if tax rates lowered or stayed stable.

Tue Nov 22, 2011 9:12 am » by **Constabul**

middleman wrote:
constabul wrote:The first factor in determining this is a false story is, the location of the poll.
New Jersey

Herp, derp, New Jersey, must be biased or corrupt, and nobody watches Fox News in that state.

Am I interpreting that correctly, or did you have some actual logical point to make with that sentence?

Nope, only tongue and cheek, in another word, humor, can't help it is lost on to you.

constabul wrote:The second factor is the source, a liberal news outlet writing about a conservative news outlet.
Yeah you're gonna get unbiased there..

Ever heard the term "don't shoot the messenger"?

I agree that the actual study looks pretty weak (something like 60 or 70 college student subjects, not exactly a good sample of a typical Fox audience), but it's findings were reported accurately.

The reason I know is because I took 5 minutes of my life to read the source, which they cite at the bottom of the article.

So, lets take a page from your reasoning, "Am I interpreting that correctly, or did you have some actual logical point to make with that sentence"

constabul wrote:Third is the content of the questionnaire, subject matter about uprisings in egypt and the middle east.

Because if it happens outside the US, it's not worth knowing, right Cunstabol?
Yup that is what i ment, make of it whatever you want. If the satire is beyond you, take it as seriously as you like.