As many have long suspected:http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/brunitedstatescanadara/671.php?nid=&id=&pnt=671&lb=
12/16/2010 11:00:27 AM
does this really need another thread? In other news the sky is blueMSNBC would be there too if anybody actually watched that network
12/16/2010 11:10:18 AM
12/16/2010 11:59:25 AM
^^ Forgive me I didn't see this study referenced anywhere else resident asshat
12/16/2010 12:27:43 PM
what, were the 50 other Fox News threads not good enough for this less-than-groundbreaking news? and for the record, your "study" is just another opinion poll [Edited on December 16, 2010 at 12:59 PM. Reason : ]
12/16/2010 12:52:54 PM
A poll that clearly shows a correlation of misinformation about basic facts and the reliance on Fox News for information.
12/16/2010 1:13:46 PM
12/16/2010 1:20:15 PM
FYIYour "study" actually shows the highest percentage of misinformation on a topic from a news source to be perpetuated by MSNBCMaybe you should make a new topic that says User adder Leads to Misinformation
12/16/2010 1:54:21 PM
You have to make a new thread? You couldn't just put it in this other adder thread? message_topic.aspx?topic=441058
12/16/2010 2:01:14 PM
12/16/2010 2:41:54 PM
12/16/2010 3:08:55 PM
Doublepost destroy[Edited on December 16, 2010 at 3:10 PM. Reason : asdf]
12/16/2010 3:09:50 PM
this just in: new channel may be biased!!!
12/16/2010 4:33:33 PM
12/16/2010 5:33:12 PM
Actually if you bother to read the results you will find that the most consistently misinformed viewers are the Fox news viewers which is exactly what I posted. For those of you unable to process information this sums it up nicely:"There were however a number of cases where greater exposure to a news source increased misinformation on a specific issue. Those who watched Fox News almost daily were significantly more likely than those who never watched it to believe that: ? most economists estimate the stimulus caused job losses (12 points more likely) ? most economists have estimated the health care law will worsen the deficit (31 points) ? the economy is getting worse (26 points) ? most scientists do not agree that climate change is occurring (30 points) ? the stimulus legislation did not include any tax cuts (14 points) ? their own income taxes have gone up (14 points) ? the auto bailout only occurred under Obama (13 points) ? when TARP came up for a vote most Republicans opposed it (12 points) ? and that it is not clear that Obama was born in the United States (31 points) These effects increased incrementally with increasing levels of exposure and all were statistically significant. 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. There were cases with some other news sources as well. ? Daily consumers of MSNBC and public broadcasting (NPR and PBS) were higher (34 points and 25 points respectively) in believing that it was proven that the US Chamber of Commerce was spending money raised from foreign sources to support Republican candidates. ? Daily watchers of network TV news broadcasts were 12 points higher in believing that TARP was signed into law by President Obama, and 11 points higher in believing that most Republicans oppose TARP. All of these effects were statistically significant. "[Edited on December 16, 2010 at 5:56 PM. Reason : asdfasd][Edited on December 16, 2010 at 5:58 PM. Reason : ?=bullet point]
12/16/2010 5:46:59 PM
no, you'll find that the author only notes the FoxNews misinformed more. but, let's look at those points...most economists have estimated the health care law will worsen the deficit: uncertain outcome.the economy is getting worse: uncertain outcome.most scientists do not agree that climate change is occurring: dubious question. Most scientists might agree, but most scientists polled are not qualified to have an opinion. When we look at climate scientists, there is quite the discussion.and that it is not clear that Obama was born in the United States: misleading question as well. it's one thing to say it's not clear (which it isn't. if it were clear, there would be no question). it's another to say that he's from Nigeria.Daily consumers of MSNBC and public broadcasting (NPR and PBS) were higher (34 points and 25 points respectively) in believing that it was proven that the US Chamber of Commerce was spending money raised from foreign sources to support Republican candidates. : not foxnews? wat?Daily watchers of network TV news broadcasts were 12 points higher in believing that TARP was signed into law by President Obama, and 11 points higher in believing that most Republicans oppose TARP. : not foxnews? wat?
12/16/2010 7:47:10 PM
12/16/2010 7:56:27 PM
12/16/2010 8:14:26 PM
12/16/2010 8:17:38 PM
12/16/2010 9:46:29 PM
12/16/2010 9:55:53 PM
Yup and MSNBC was one of the other news organizations that showed some misinformed viewers. Surprise. Surprise. You will also see I was the one who rephrased it to correlation. Causation isn't that big of a logical step for most people rational people though given all the parameters previously outlined. Also
12/16/2010 10:07:21 PM
12/17/2010 12:15:17 AM
Anyone who thinks it is not clear that Obama was born in Hawaii is seriously ignorant. There are things we can disagree over, and even things where it's acceptable to be misinformed (whether TARP created jobs, who began the program, etc.).The semantic parsing of "it's not clear" is part of the problem here. Anyone who does not categorically, 100% understand that he is in fact a citizen and was born in this country is extremely ignorant, and I would liken to people who think 9/11 was a setup.Seriously, I don't know you aaronburro, and I'm sure my opinion doesn't mean much at all, but if you genuinely believe what you wrote about the "lack of clarity" on this issue, then it really becomes impossible to take anything else you say seriously. Intelligent people should not be having this debate.
12/17/2010 2:13:32 AM
^^ You obviously don't understand what a leading question is. I guess you are fine with the conclusion that fox news viewers are unable to read and answer questions asked THESE WEREN'T PERSONAL OPINION QUESTIONS AND THAT WAS MADE CLEAR BY THE PHRASING OF THE QUESTION. They didn't ask How do you feel about climate change or how do you feel about the economy. and ^ is right if you don't feel that Obama's citizenship is clear it is because you are an idiot and have been woefully misinformed by your news source.
12/17/2010 8:10:48 AM
goddamn, son, are you afraid of the ENTER key? does your service provider charge extra for sending carriage returns? learn how to use whitespace, already.Anyhow, you can dress this up as a "study" as much as you want, but it's still an opinion poll --and one in which the authors are using to support their own predetermined conclusions. As much as it pains me to agree with burro, those points on which fox viewers are "misinformed" do not have clear answers or consensus.[Edited on December 17, 2010 at 12:25 PM. Reason : ]
12/17/2010 12:15:27 PM
Misinformation and the 2010 Election A Study of the US Electorate
12/17/2010 12:46:01 PM
12/17/2010 1:19:01 PM
However it was a study done by the University of Maryland (if UM calls it a study I am going to call it a study) which in the results showed that fox news viewers were misinformed (in comparison to other voters) about many things that were current hot topic issues. Even democrat voters who watched fox news showed similar trends. Again NOT A HUGE FUCKING LOGICAL STEP. Did other networks viewers demonstrate misinformation? Yest BUT NO WHERE NEAR THE DEGREE THAT FOX NEWS VIEWERS DID.
12/17/2010 1:29:59 PM
since you read the actual study contained with in that opinion article you posted...what were the other percentages of misinformation from news sources other than fox - you know the ones that were not listed in the opinion portion...what were those figures? To what degree did the other networks show misinformation?
12/17/2010 2:24:07 PM
their polling methods are skewed.
12/17/2010 2:38:12 PM
Ok you want to quote numbers?Here is a question that is in no way misleading:Since January 2009, the respondent’s federal income taxes have actually gone upPercent misinformed among people who use Fox news as daily source: 49%average among other networks: 32.2Also look at the charts themselves and you notice in most cases a correspondence with increased misinformation and increased viewing of Fox News (Never vs almost daily row).Some of the questions would be polarizing because of political affiliation which is why it was so interesting that Democratic voters who viewed Fox news followed the same trends of misinformation.
12/17/2010 2:51:12 PM
12/17/2010 4:14:59 PM
I wanted you to quote numbers yes - not "number" Also who are you to say that someones taxes have gone up or down - maybe they should have phrased the question "tax rate"ALSOSo you didn't read your study?"most scientists do not agree that climate change is occurring" is what was quoted in the opinion pieceMost scientists think climate change is not occurring + views are divided evenlyis the statement phrased in the study"Do most scientists support climate change?"is the question you just asked.none of those look like the same question to me + the actual wording is not a question at all, but a 2 part statement instead.seems pretty ambiguous to me - you obviously misunderstood it (or didn't bother to read at all)Maybe you should stop defending a "study" that you haven't read and just accept that you are part of the problem as well.
12/17/2010 4:44:21 PM
Or maybe you should stop picking out minute things and take a look at the overall picture. You can pick and pick but at the end of it all the study shows some alarming trends.
12/17/2010 4:54:10 PM
When you stop expecting cable news channels to give you totally unbiased and comprehensive coverage of every issue, you'll stop freaking out every time it is revealed that cable news channels do not give you totally unbiased and comprehensive coverage of every issue.
12/17/2010 5:06:08 PM
I for one would just like them to discuss relevant and serious (and international) issues rather than just trying to divert public attention to petty and irrelevant bullshit and baseless speculation.But that's just my personal complaints about the news media and isn't really relevant to the whole Fox News thing in this thread.
12/17/2010 5:20:01 PM
lol at the amount of pwnage in this thread.
12/17/2010 6:12:42 PM
12/17/2010 6:21:45 PM
who is this person ^ what alias are they? seems annoyingly familiar...
12/17/2010 7:02:38 PM
No actual response? I am surprised
12/17/2010 7:04:47 PM
Can't be me, I don't use rolly-eyes
12/17/2010 11:54:29 PM
12/18/2010 12:34:57 PM
If anyone, the study organizers are misinformed. Does anyone really believe the healthcare reform act will turn out to actually save money? Who is actually certain that the stimulus created between 2 and 5 million jobs?
12/19/2010 1:17:05 AM
Created or saved? I have no idea about the actual number, but just look at what happened with the car companies, for example. Agree with what we chose to do in terms of bailing them out or not, it's clear that if we hadn't, then all the people who work for those companies would essentially be jobless now.I mean, maybe they got jobs somewhere else, and I'm sure that they have reduced jobs to thin things out, but they have over 200,000 employees, so you have to imagine that were they allowed to fail, at least half of those would be jobless, not to mention any subsidiaries who make their money off of selling products to GM or on behalf of GM.That's just one example, and I could be entirely wrong about the math behind it, but I would imagine that this saved jobs. You would assume that there were similar job savings/creations because AIG and other companies weren't allowed to fail and create a domino effect as well.
12/19/2010 1:52:05 AM
While I wouldn't presume the argument in the thread title, that "Fox News leads to misinformation," is probably wrong I don't think this study or any of the other similar ones are sufficiently thorough to demonstrate that. I also wouldn't expect any case study to be able to prove a causal link either since we don't yet possess sufficient understanding of the human mind to observe when an idea that is either provably false or most generally accepted as false is taken up by the brain and first accepted as true.The best that this study, or those like it, have shown is that people consume information from sources that either repeat their own misconceptions, passively reinforce them, or at least do not challenge them. The thing is though, while scale of misinformation is arguable as well as difficult to encapsulate, the studies that compare audiences of different media do at least show this to be consistent across all audiences. That is to say that for a population that regular consumes information from a subset of these sources - the rate at which a not-uncommon (held by a statistically significant minority) misconception about a topic covered by that source is believed to be true should not be expected to track to the average rate for the total population.Basically- the likelihood that someone will hold a specific misconception about a particular topic is different for a sample of people who regularly consume information about that topic from the same source compared to:1) The general/control population - by the very definition of the sample subset they will be more informed (regardless of whether this is rightly or wrongly) since the subset definition precludes the non-consumer2) A sample subset who regularly consume information on the same topic from a different sourceThe first part is obvious enough and does not really pose a problem with the article or this kind of study. The second item is that from which people attempt to imply a causal link. I do not disagree that it is logical to believe there to be a causal link but I do believe there is a more reasonable explanation.The idea of cognitive dissonance is fairly well established. While we are only just now beginning to scratch the surface as far as understanding the mechanism behind it, it is a fairly universally relate-able phenomenon. It is, for a lack of a better description, uncomfortable when an idea presented conflicts with an idea you hold to be true. For any particular consumer of information, the least discomfort would be caused by a source of information that presented the fewest challenges to ideas held by a particular consumer. Since it is almost impossible for one not to have at least preconceptions about most topics discussed on any news source before becoming a regular consumer - they will already have a predilection to find a particular source of information more or less dissonant than another as well. Without some evidence to the contrary, I propose that the most common misconceptions in these groups were formed before selecting a primary source for related information.Since the study is insufficient to cover the breadth of statistically significant misconceptions people may have I do not think it can serve to quantify with any authority whether one of these groups is meaningfully more or less misinformed than another. Instead I think these studies are only sufficient to suggest, and weakly at that, that a regular consumer of information is more likely to choose a source that is less likely to challenge the misconceptions they hold. While this notion is interesting it is not particularly illuminating except as a potential argument for diversity in one's source of information. It could also be used to suggest a further study considering a sample subset which consisted of those who consciously or unconsciously receive information from multiple supposedly dissonant sources. Still, I think some might find the idea that the "best informed" are those who are not only regularly informed but also informed from a diverse set of sources to be a less than novel one.[Edited on December 19, 2010 at 6:15 AM. Reason : this is a rambling mess -sorry]
12/19/2010 6:11:25 AM
Sorry for the double post, but I rambled so long in an attempted edit that I ran over the time limit. Anyways, here's my preachy anecdotal addition to what I said earlier.Not that my anecdote relates to the validity of the article or study, but I regularly watch Fox News as well as MSNBC, NPR and Al-Jazeera English (as well as similarly tinged online text sources). I am fairly liberal and I used to find myself getting into passionate debates with conservative friends over specifics that I would sometimes find I was provably wrong about after researching them later. I'm sure this is not an unfamiliar experience for most people on this board. Admittedly, there is some sense of smug satisfaction when a quick google search would turn up reliable information proving my friend wrong this is ultimately an empty discovery compared to the silent embarrassment from wasted effort defending what you later discover to be fiction. What was worse was discovering such misconceptions after having someone else concede or give in to argument- there is a tinge of guilt in realizing you managed to perpetuate a fiction by convincing someone the truth they knew was wrong regardless of how well you might have thought you had done it.As uncomfortable as it may be for me to hear the ideas presented by Fox News or Al-Jazeera English that conflict with what I beleive to be true - particularly when they are correct and I was not - it is still preferable to the alternative. I would rather admit that Bill O'Reily was right to attack a Democrat's use of parliamentary procedures as politicization of an otherwise popular bill or that Al Jazeera was right to call the failure of the Senate to pass some version of the Zadroga bill months ago an unforgivable of the entire body (democrats for being inflexible on the source of funding and republicans for blocking it) to honor those most heroic on 9/11- I would rather concede those points silently to the television than to realize I spent half an hour bickering with a friend over a point I was completely misinformed on.[Edited on December 19, 2010 at 6:44 AM. Reason : excuse the poor grammar- jetlagging like crazy]
12/19/2010 6:43:34 AM
12/19/2010 10:42:22 AM
12/19/2010 11:50:56 AM
To those who think that climate scientists are in less agreement on anthropogenic climate change than scientists in general, in April 2010 the National Academy of Scientists found that "97% of self-identified actively publishing climate scientists agree with the tenets of ACC." (from the Proceedings of the NAS)Also it's appalling that the lowest level of misinformation about the effect of the stimulus on employment was still 65% (MSNBC viewers); more generally only 8% of those surveyed believed correctly that most economists estimate that it saved or created millions of jobs: http://www.bilerico.com/2010/12/the_miseducation_of_america.php
12/19/2010 1:01:29 PM