According to the latest results from Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind Poll, some news sources make us less likely to know what’s going on in the world. In the most recent study, the poll asked New Jerseyans about current events at home and abroad, and from what sources – if any – they get their information. The conclusion: Sunday morning news shows do the most to help people learn about current events, while some outlets, especially Fox News, lead people to be even less informed than those who they don’t watch any news at all.
Among other topics, New Jerseyans were asked about the outcome of the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East this past year. While 53% of New Jerseyans know that Egyptians were successful in overthrowing the government of Hosni Mubarak, 21% say that the uprisings were unsuccessful, and 26% admit they don’t know. Also, 48% know that the Syrian uprising has thus far been unsuccessful, while 36% say they don’t know, and 16% say the Syrians have already toppled their government.
But the real finding is that the results depend on what media sources people turn to for their news. For example, people who watch Fox News, the most popular of the 24-hour cable news networks, are 18-points less likely to know that Egyptians overthrew their government than those who watch no news at all (after controlling for other news sources, partisanship, education and other demographic factors). Fox News watchers are also 6-points less likely to know that Syrians have not yet overthrown their government than those who watch no news.
"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," said Dan Cassino, a professor of political science at Fairleigh Dickinson and an analyst for the PublicMind Poll. "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."
You know the sad thing is that the peo0ple who most need to be exposed to this information are never going to see it, because Fox news will never report it. Kinda like a "Catch 22" there.
I wonder if someday we will see class action suits against Fox news the way we see them against cigarette manufacturers? Just imagine:
"Your honor my client was led to believe that he was viewing a NEWS program, and that watching it would IMPROVE his information base and make him MORE knowledgeable. But as you can clearly see your honor the poor son-of-a-bitch is a drooling moron who can barely form a coherent sentence or wipe his own ass much engage in an intelligent conversation on current events or political matters. If it pleases the court we would like ask that Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes be forced to compensate my client in the amount of one hundred million dollars, and be further court ordered to issue an apology to the American people for lowering the national IQ by an average of 20 points."
Seems fair to me.
