Monday, May 21, 2012

Fox News Withdrawl

According to a recent study by Fairleigh Dickinson University, a follow-up to this previous studypeople who watch absolutely no news tend to know more about current events than people who watch Fox News. Those who watch NPR know more. 
     On average, respondents got correct 1.8 of the international questions and 1.6 of the domestic 
     questions. (I know, I know.)
     People who mainly listened to NPR did somewhat better: an average of 1.92 correct on the domestic 
     section. 
     People who watched no news at all averaged 1.22 domestic questions right. 
     And people who watched only Fox? 1.04                                          (The Daily Beast)
Now, the number of questions asked was 5 on domestic issues, 4 on foreign ones. So on average, people would fail a test on these issues. Of course, those who read sources like The New York Times were generally more knowledgable than those who did not follow the news. And Jon Stewart also increased knowledge of domestic affairs. Should you wish to take the tests yourself, they are contained in the links to the studies above. Only 41% of people new that the Egyptian protestors were successful in getting rid of Mubarak. Only 55% knew that Assad was still in power. So it looks like the liberal indoctrination publications and news outlets contain facts, while Fox News decides to withdraw those facts. Of course, it appears that neither side is doing a very good job educating people. Just don't ask a Fox News viewer about it.

2 comments:

  1. The War of Jenkins ear.May 21, 2012 at 10:17 PM

    you realise that this is simply confirming the fact that news media is a relic from a previous age before the internet. The reason why fox news lasted as a biased source was not only because it was so well off, it was also because people didn't have any other source to get their news from. Now everyone hears about everything due to the internet.

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    Replies
    1. Well, there are some great news sources, nominally The Economist, The Guardian, and The Telegraph. But yes, American news media is no longer an effective way to distribute the news. It still could be, but alas, MSNBC and Fox News are too biased. CNN covers random, useless stories, and does not take a stance on issues for the sake of "balance," no matter where the facts lie.

      And the American news outlets spend lots of time on very little news. Take for example the British royal wedding; that was the only thing of the news for weeks, or so it seemed.

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