Fox News fans misinformed, study finds

St. Paul Pioneer Press ^ | Oct 17, 2003 | BRIAN LAMBERT

[spetznaz]

I have to disagree with you and somewhat lean towards the article. I love FNC ....do not get me wrong ....and i watch it a lot. The only thing is i watch it for their commentaries. When i yearn for news (and by news i do not mean commentary) i tune to several sources ranging from AP, MSNBC or even SKY (and by the way SKY is affiliated with FOX, but they do not spend half of their time telling me THEIR understanding of what is happening but instead just tell me what is happening and drop the 'explanation').

There are several instances where a FNC 'commentator' has jumped to a conclusion based on nothing more than what he/she thinks is afoot in the world.

Watch the Fox and Friends and you'll note that they regularly say what they think instead of what is happening. And there is a major difference between the two since one is basically the news as understood by the newsperson, and the other is plain and simple: the news! The first is quite entertaining ...which is why i watch FNC. It is fun to watch and here what would otherwise be mundane info broken down into various facets and obviously speculative reasoning (aka speculation ....but no one would call it that on air) is quite entertaining.

The only problem is that when a person filters the news it is basically being spun or skewed toward one objective (Liberals do this a lot ....but also do a lot of FNC newspeople).

I love FNC ...however their maxim of 'We Report You decide' is more like 'We Report, then Explain, Speculate, and finally tell you what is happening and you can then decide.'

[Michael Barnes]

That pic is damn funny with that caption...

[been_lurking]

the answers of Fox viewers does certainly raise some eyebrows.

The questions asked for "your impression", "your impression", and "your feeling" in that order.

Why would it "raise eyebrows" to learn that Fox News watchers have different "impressions" or "feelings" than NPR news listeners?

I would have thought the results were obvious and inane, not eyebrow raising.

[TruthNtegrity]

On the question of a link between Saddam and al-Qaida, a frankly startling 67 percent of the Fox News primary-source crowd believed this to be true. It's a claim that was one of the centerpieces of the Bush administration war policy but has never been proved, and, as PIPA asserts, is now largely dismissed by the intelligence community (and lately the White House itself).

Au contraire, mon ami. Ooops, sorry, speaking French isn't a good thing anymore.

Well, it HAS been proven. When our soldiers first went into palaces in Baghdad, they found papers that showed a clear paper trail of links between Saddam and Al-Qaeda.

I know, I know - it's so long ago, we've forgotten but we have proof of linkS with the Osama-may-he-please-be-dead one!

[Captainpaintball]

This is the same douche that wrote an "BashRush" article about Al Franken. I know his agenda.

Notice that the questions are liberal slanted. If I asked questions like "Did the US have any participatory allies in the War?" , "Are things going well in post-war Iraq"? or "What happened to the artifacts in the Iraqi Museum?" we'd have CNN and MSNBC viewers score worse than Fox viewers.

[cspackler]

Do these people have any idea what a survey like this opens up? I don't have the time at the moment, but it would be very simple to come up with three "survey" questoions (that aren't as blatant as these) that could be asked of the general public which would make Fox viewers look like geniuses compared to the other categories.

[foolish-one]

What a bogus report on a bogus study. Notice there is no comparison between Fox and their direct competition - CNN. Or any indication of how misinformed those who only watch the major network news are. Even with liberally slanted questions. Ask the same people "Did president Bush lie when he said that Iraq posed an 'imminent threat' to the US?" and see how many viewers of CNN, CBS, ABS and NBS are "misinformed"!

[cspackler]

Thanks, Cap. You did it for me already before I got my comment posted.

[zook]

I sent Mr. Lambert the following:

Mr. Lambert,

If you read the news a bit more often, or at least a wider sampling, you might have discovered the bias that was built into this survey. For example, the question about al Qaida was prefaced with a phrase like "as you know, President Bush has emphasized the links between Iraq and 9/11" (see Wall Street Journal Opinion Journal" from about two weeks ago.

If you thought about this a little more, it might dawn on you that the question about world opinion asks people to state an opinion about something for which there is no conclusive empirical evidence. It may be that people doubt the validity of the various polls that have been released on this, or they suspect that "world opinion" is changeable as new facts arise.

The second question, about WMD, might also be open to interpretation. For example, Colin Powell already revealed the presence of long range missiles and warheads capable of carrying chemical payloads.

Now, consider the following. Were we to survey CNN watchers or NPR listeners as to whether or not President Bush claimed that Iraq constituted an "imminent thread," how do you suppose the majority would answer? I put it to you that this is no less a sign of misinformation than the examples you cite.

In truth, as a social scientist myself, I have serious misgivings about the methodology used in the study you describe. Did people know they were being surveyed about their actual knowledge? Or did many believe they were responding to an "opinion poll?" The answer to this question is very important when interpreting the survey results.

[foolish-one]

"ABS" = "ABC"

[been_lurking]

This is the third posting today where some liberal uses the term "perception".

When are the liberals ever going to address REALITY. They seem to be all wrapped up in "perceptions" lately.

[staytrue]

I think all of the questions are bad questions

A bad question is one that is open to interpretation. Yes these are bad questions.

[Viva Le Dissention]

As I said before, the questions have a degree of subjectivity.

You're right, the results may actually be obvious, in retrospect. I do sort of assume that people who get their news from Fox would tend to be misinformed.

Then again, I'm a snob in the 20% that only get their news from a newspaper. I think TV "news" is inherently biased and misinforming anyhow.

[Tennessean4Bush]

This writer is an arrogant fellow, isn't he?

[hosepipe]

The problem is the survey overlooked the Ann Coulter synopsis of the situation.....

20% of the respondents are conservatives, 20% are liberal and 80% are morons....

[Wondervixen]

The Program on International Policy Attitudes = "Mo & Ron's Servey Survice"

[Texas_Jarhead]

I wish the author would have cited the "correct" answers to the PIPA questions were supposed to be. If they think the answers are all "no" then I guess we know where they stand.

[Tired_of_the_Lies]

What newspaper do you read? I assume from your remark that you consider it to be unbiased.

[StrictTime]

Bush needs to make a commercial out of all of those quotes to show the sheeple how the Dems play politiks. White letters on black screen. Voice-over. I gleefully consider the squirming from Her Heinous, Teddy-boy and Maddy.

[bertdog1]

Well, doggone it, I guess I will just have to start watching CNN. Hmmmmm.... On second thought, I think I will continue to stay "misinformed".