Fox News Viewers Know Less Than Those Who Don't Watch News
It may be hard to believe. But a recent survey reported that regular Fox News viewers actually know less about current events than those who don't watch news at all.
Fairleigh Dickinson University asked 612 New Jersey adults how they got their news and then asked them about current affairs. Most of the results didn't surprise me as they backed up a previous survey. Watchers of Sunday morning shows that discuss public affairs and national newspapers readers scored relatively high. Fox News viewers scored at the bottom.
What I found amusing was that viewers of the comedy "The Daily Show" with John Stewart were actually better informed on some issues than those who got their news from Fox News or MSNBC.
Note that the poll tested a relatively small sample and thus has a relatively large margin of error.
See the Los Angeles Times article by Michael A. Memoli at articles.latimes.com/2011/nov/21/news/la-pn-fox-news-poll-20111121
On a side note, after Megyn Kelly told Bill O'Reilly on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor that pepper spray was essentially "a food product," a petition went up for her to eat it. Not just her words, but the pepper spray. In response, Sam Seder of Majority.FM pointed that peach seeds contain what is essentially a food product, cyanide. See the petition at www.change.org/petitions/fox-news-anchor-eat-or-drink-a-full-dose-of-pepper-spray-on-national-television.
See Seder's openly biased report at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE2Nxjv6gwM. The previous survey is discussed at http://loveshade.org/blog/2010/12/are_you_smarter_than_a_fox_new.html.
The image of Megyn Kelly on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor is a screen capture. This is intended to help illustrate the article and no threat to any copyright is intended.
Thanks to Vernon Avaritt III for pointing out these stories. An opinion expressed by an individual member of The Loveshade Family does not necessarily express the views of the entire family.
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As someone asked before where I get my news, I get it largely through the Internet, primarily Associated Press, NPR, Christian Science Monitor, Yahoo!, and online national newspapers. I also get news from the openly-biased ACLU. If I'm really interested in a story, I check more than one source and try to account for bias. -- Alden Loveshade
Comments
It's a real shame people get their news this way. I don't watch much news because you can't believe what you're told. So sad.
Posted by: TawTew the Naturally Perfumed | November 26, 2011 05:25 AM
I don't know why people watch that. Fox is so phoney.
Posted by: Miley Spears | November 26, 2011 05:47 AM
Its really sad that we can't trust the news. How do you know what's true and what's not? Alden's really good at picking things out and sometimes when I'm confused I ask him. But sometimes he can't find out either! So many people want to bury the truth it's hard to dig it up.
Posted by: Lorien Loveshade | November 26, 2011 06:48 PM
What's wrong with Fox? And why are you posting this again? Some biased liberal survey doesn't mean nothing.
Posted by: Tom T. Trucker | November 28, 2011 02:01 PM
I watch Fox
in a box.
What's wrong with it?
It's full of wit
so don't be blue
just cuz it's not true.
Posted by: MJ Lover | November 30, 2011 06:48 AM
Fox. The News for Idiots.
Posted by: Rev. Bootie | November 30, 2011 04:34 PM
People who watch a comedy show are better informed than those who watch Fox? Sorry, Tom, but change the channel.
Posted by: Pope Gregory Marshall | December 1, 2011 09:02 AM
I have been wary of Fox news for a long time. Rupert Murdoch's philosophy is "There is NO news, there is only opinion". I occasionally watch Fox News so I am an idiot. Sometimes watching FOX News is good. I watched the 2008 Presidential Election and it was especially sweet having Hannity declare Obama the winner. They only declared him President when they had to so they wouldn't look like imbecils (they are already fool). They were the last news room to declare Obama the new President. It was especially sweet. Fair and balanced my ass.
Posted by: Vernon Avaritt | December 8, 2011 06:35 PM