Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Truth About Fox News Viewers
Fox News ^ | January 05, 2011 | John R. Lott Jr.

Posted on 01/05/2011 3:35:22 PM PST by JohnRLott

Does watching Fox News rot your brain? According to a report released last month by WorldPublicOpinion.org at the University of Maryland, "Misinformation and the 2010 Election," the more people watch Fox News, the more they are "misinformed."

The allegation rapidly became a favorite topic for leading mainstream news outlets including The New York Times, U.S. News and World Report, CBS News, Slate, The Atlantic. Even major newspapers in Canada and the U.K. covered the report. Of course, left-wing websites -- the Talking Point Memo, Media Matters, and the Daily Kos -- reveled in the findings.

The report asserted that Fox News viewers getting political survey questions wrong was not just the result of already wrongheaded Republicans watching Fox News: "The effect was also not simply a function of partisan bias, as people who voted Democratic and watched Fox News were also more likely to have such misinformation than those who did not watch it--though by a lesser margin than those who voted Republican."

But the researchers themselves were clearly misinformed and frequently picked incorrect or left-wing biased answers as the "correct" ones, something the uncritical mainstream media apparently never examined. Take the first four questions of the eleven the report focused on. . . .

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: alinskytactics; cbsnews; dailykos; foxnews; johnlott; liberalfascism; mediabias; mediamatters; newyorktimes; slate; theatlantic
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-72 next last

1 posted on 01/05/2011 3:35:22 PM PST by JohnRLott
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: JohnRLott

Elitist bastards...

Steven Kull, director of WorldPublicOpinion.org and the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA). He directs the PIPA/Knowledge Networks poll of the US public, plays a central role in the BBC World Service Poll of global opinion and the polls of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and is the principal investigator of a major study of social support of anti-American terrorist groups in Islamic countries. He regularly appears in the US and international media, providing analysis of public opinion, and gives briefings to the US Congress, the State Department, NATO, the United Nations and the European Commission. His articles have appeared in Political Science Quarterly, Foreign Policy, Public Opinion Quarterly, Harpers, The Washington Post and other publications. His most recent book, co-authored with I.M. Destler, is Misreading the Public: The Myth of a New Isolationism (Brookings). He is a faculty member of the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the World Association of Public Opinion Research.

Clay Ramsay, Director of Research at PIPA and a CISSM fellow, co-founded PIPA in 1992. He regularly appears in the US and international media providing analysis of public opinion. With a background in history and psychology, he has focused on the study of ideology and mass psychology. He received his Ph.D. in History from Stanford University, has taught at Oberlin College, and is the author of The Ideology of the Great Fear (Johns Hopkins University Press). He is a faculty member of the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland.

Evan Scot Lewis is a Research Associate at PIPA. As a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Maryland, his research interests have focused on international relations, political economy and the politics of land use management in Colorado and Maryland. He was a Harrison Fellow and has taught at both the University of Maryland and George Washington University. He received his Bachelor’s degree at the University of Colorado and his Master’s degree at The American University.

Abe Medoff is Research Assistant/Office Manager at PIPA. He is currently a candidate for an MA in Security Policy Studies at The George Washington University. He previously received a BA in International Affairs with concentrations in Conflict & Security and International Politics from GW.

PIPA Board of Advisors
Chairman, I.M. Destler, University of Maryland
Gloria Duffy, Commonwealth Club
William Frenzel, Brookings Institution
Alan Kay, Americans Talk Issues Foundation
Catherine Kelleher, University of Maryland
Anthony Lake, Georgetown University
Benjamin Page, Northwestern University
Robert Shapiro, Columbia University
Frederick Steeper, Market Strategies
Daniel Yankelovich, Public Agenda Foundation

Supporters
WPO is made possible by the generous support of:

Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Tides Foundation
Ford Foundation
German Marshall Fund of the United States
Compton Foundation
Carnegie Corporation
Benton Foundation
Ben and Jerry’s Foundation
University of Maryland Foundation
Circle Foundation
JEHT Foundation
Stanley Foundation
Ploughshares Fund
Calvert Foundation
Secure World Foundation
Oak Foundation
United States Institute of Peace


2 posted on 01/05/2011 3:56:32 PM PST by kcvl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kcvl

good post, thanks


3 posted on 01/05/2011 7:54:54 PM PST by Texas_Jarhead
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: JohnRLott
That was a great dissection by Fox of that dopey "study."

The study basically proved that if you watch Fox News you are less likely to be a moronic leftwing brainwashed jackass.

4 posted on 01/05/2011 8:02:10 PM PST by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: JohnRLott
Amazing. They are now claiming that showing skepticism of dubious claims indicates narrow-mindedness.
5 posted on 01/05/2011 8:03:18 PM PST by Tribune7 (The Democrat Party is not a political organization but a religious cult.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kcvl

You can bet your last nickel that EVERY person who considers themselves to be a liberal is an elitist who thinks that they are just smarter than everyone else.


6 posted on 01/05/2011 8:05:39 PM PST by Blood of Tyrants (Islam is the religion of Satan and Mohammed was his minion.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: dead

Yep, time to re-educate all the nonwatchers of MSM in Progresssssive Education Gulags!


7 posted on 01/05/2011 8:05:46 PM PST by Leo Carpathian (fffffFRrrreeeeepppeeee-ssed!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: JohnRLott
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
8 posted on 01/05/2011 8:09:51 PM PST by NYTexan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: JohnRLott

Based on the ratings, apparently the collective brain of the population is decomposing.

So it goes, as will most of the jobs of those who propagate such nonsense.


9 posted on 01/05/2011 8:18:28 PM PST by mmercier
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: JohnRLott

More Lamestream doing studies that support the narrative they want it to. It does not fly anymore judging by the decline in all their ratings and circulation in comparison to the continual rise of FOX.


10 posted on 01/05/2011 8:21:38 PM PST by Lazlo in PA (Now living in a newly minted Red State.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: JohnRLott
The truth about Fox News viewers is...we like hot women....
11 posted on 01/05/2011 8:25:46 PM PST by GenXteacher (He that hath no stomach for this fight, let him depart!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: JohnRLott

Excellent deconstruction, Mr. Lott.


12 posted on 01/05/2011 8:26:07 PM PST by Ramius (Personally, I give us... one chance in three. More tea?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GenXteacher

Woah. Just... damn.


13 posted on 01/05/2011 8:27:03 PM PST by Ramius (Personally, I give us... one chance in three. More tea?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: JohnRLott
We must support Conservative news outlets at every opportunity.

The Marxists will continue to attack from every direction with every method possible.

They're trying to make it un-cool to watch Fox News presently.

14 posted on 01/05/2011 8:30:02 PM PST by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

bump


15 posted on 01/05/2011 8:43:08 PM PST by mcenedo (lying liberal media - our most dangerous and powerful enemy)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: blam

Whoa, sore losers always gotta have someone to blame.


16 posted on 01/05/2011 8:43:52 PM PST by ully2 (ully)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: JohnRLott

17 posted on 01/05/2011 8:56:02 PM PST by Incorrigible (If I lead, follow me; If I pause, push me; If I retreat, kill me.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: JohnRLott
So. If you agree with their POV, then you are "informed" and "correct." If you don't, you are "misinformed" and "incorrect."

That was a breathtakingly bad survey.

Why didn't they do a survey that asked unbiased questions which were clearly either right or wrong (no matter what one's political views are)? I'll answer my own question: because that sort of survey might not "prove" what they wanted to "prove."

18 posted on 01/05/2011 9:34:40 PM PST by susannah59
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ramius

Fox has the best, most conservative leg twitching in mainstream news.


19 posted on 01/05/2011 9:34:59 PM PST by FlyingEagle
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: JohnRLott

Very interesting. Thanks for the expose!

(Someday, I’m going to figure out how to add accents to words. They look so flat without them. ;^))


20 posted on 01/05/2011 9:36:22 PM PST by Shelayne (He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly" Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! *Rev 22:20)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-72 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson