Are Fox News viewers really less informed than those who do not follow the news?

Oh for God’s sake! Yes… Fox News is the anti-christ! They are responsible for everything unpleasant including global warming and plate techtonics! Watching even one session of Fox News lowers your IQ by at least ten points!

What recent polls? Can you share a few with us?

@jonsblond, LA Times article about the findings and press release from the organization that did the polling (Fairleigh Dickinson University).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/21/fox-news-viewers-less-informed-people-fairleigh-dickinson_n_1106305.html

@CaptainHarley lol… I enjoy your sarcasm :).

Honestly, I think yes they probably are less informed. But that having been said, all the major news media stations are basically just propaganda machines for whichever wing of politics they endorse. I would dare suspect that MSNBC and CNN watchers also have a less informed life.

Of course.

@tedd, no need to suspect. The second link I posted has those numbers. Asked whether Egyptians successfully took down the regime (yes) 57% of MSNBC and CNN watchers were correct, compared to 49% of Fox News (given that it’s a yes/no question, I think it’s telling that the Fox News viewers performed slightly worse than chance…)

Asked the same question about the Syrian revolution, 50% of CNN viewers were correct, 47% of MSNBC, and 45% of Fox news viewers.

Less informed – in general, I’ll be nice and say no. Grossly misinformed however… yeah, that sounds about right.

I find it really sad that only 53% (total, not just fnews viewers) knew Mubarak was overthrown. Although a better question, among other issues, would have been to say “the Mubarak regime” as some people may have been thinking about the opposition to the military and considered that since an elected or at least civilian government isn’t in place the overthrow isn’t completely successful (I’m reaching, I know).

The Syrian numbers however I can’t get around.

The poll findings are from 612 New Jersey residents. So, what it comes down is the intelligence of 64 people in New Jersey are Fox News watchers who were polled by phone.

If by that, you mean, “more willing to ignore the crushing weight of evidence contrary to what Fox says”, then yes.

That said, I think that there is only enough evidence both in that study and from my personal observations to warrant further study and not enough to actually draw a solid conclusion; too small a sample size to be truly representative.

Of course. Have you watched them? For christ sakes they won a court case allowing them the right to lie.

“FAIR and BALANCED?” Please! Unfortunately though the ability to have news available at any time has made news sources so people are becoming more partisan, not less.

Fox doesn’t strike me as being a news organisation so much as a propaganda machine. Perhaps people watch it to have their world view reinforced rather than to understand and learn.

@flutherother

Oh. You mean kinda like MSNBC and CBS and ABC?

Let’s be honest. It is amazing that there are 64 people in New Jersey that watch Fox News.

God I really hate the liberal conservative media.

@CaptainHarley Exactly like MSNBC, CBS, ABC, CNN… they’re all propaganda machines that twist the truth and spit out lies… Fox News is just working for a different agenda.

@bkcunningham I figured they’d all be at a carnival near a beach comparing muscles and going tanning.

.

I like CNN but I haven’t seen much of the others.

I always stick to my unbiased newspaper.
Oh wait, those don’t exist.
Reading more then one newspaper of different positions make that I see more sides of a story/subject thus creating a more balanced opinion although I am easy manipulated by default.

Fox making the claim that they’re fair and balanced in itself is enough to raise my eyebrows. I generally will read info about a topic/incident from multiple tv, newspaper and internet sources. I guess there will always be a bias no matter what but I still believe (from watching it enough) that Fox takes the cake in the bias category.

Damn it, even several of my past nonunion employers used to keep Fox News tuned in on the flat screen breakroom tv’s so what does that tell you? Coincidence? I doubt it since I don’t believe in coincidences.

LMAO, @tedd. fist pump

Honestly though, is this really surprising?

About the same.

@Paradox25 I had a Fox-listening co-worker who, when the whole “Joe the Plumber”, absolutely refused to understand the difference between the revenue generated by our company (an incorporated legal entity) and the personal income of the owner; he thought that our owner personally paid the taxes of ****** Inc. as opposed to her and the company filing separately.

@jerv No, what I meant was that it was the higher management in the nonunion companies I’ve worked for that kept Fox News on all of the breakroom tv’s. The employees were not allowed to change the channels. I wasn’t talking about the nonunion employees but the companies themselves. I called it corporate mind control.