Study hits war views held by Fox fans (moronic study alert)

Baltimore Sun ^ | 10.4.03 | David Folkenflik

[mhking]

Heavy viewers of the Fox News Channel are nearly four times as likely to hold demonstrably untrue positions about the war in Iraq as media consumers who rely on National Public Radio or the Public Broadcasting System, according to a study released this week by a research center affiliated with the University of Maryland's School of Public Affairs.

"When evidence surfaces that a significant portion of the public has just got a hole in the picture ... this is a potential problem in the way democracy functions," says Clay Ramsay, research director for the Washington-based Program on International Policy Attitudes, which studies foreign-policy issues.

Fox News officials did not return repeated requests yesterday for comment on the study.

Funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Ford Foundation, the study was conducted from June through September. It surveyed 3,334 Americans who receive their news from a single media source. Each was questioned about whether he held any of the following three beliefs, characterized by the center as "egregious misperceptions":

[firewalk]

Thanks for the ping
btrl

[nutmeg]

Thanks for the ping. We need a Barf Alert for this one!

[nutmeg]

FoxFan ping!

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my FoxFan list. *Warning: This can be a high-volume ping list at times.

[nutmeg]

ping!

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[TexKat]

Based on several nationwide surveys it conducted with California-based Knowledge Networks since June, as well as the results of other polls, PIPA found that 48 percent of the public believe US troops found evidence of close pre-war links between Iraq and the al-Qaeda terrorist group; 22 percent thought troops found weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq; and 25 percent believed that world public opinion favored Washington's going to war with Iraq. All three are misperceptions.

Thanks for the heads up Howlin.

This survey or results of multiple surveys give the appearance that the people that were interviewed did not follow the news from any news outlet. Looks more like by word of mouth under the tree ramblings by individuals that are completely unaware of what is going on.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[Cacique]

bttfl