Keeping up with the Joneses

Researchers from Fairleigh Dickinson University conducted a nationwide poll asking questions about international news (Iran, Egypt, Syria and Greece were included) and domestic affairs (Republican primaries, Congress, unemployment and the Keystone XL pipeline) to find which demographics were most informed.

Fox News viewers ranked the lowest on being the most informed on such event while MSNBC fared poorly as well. Both networks scored lower than people who watched no news or even “The Daily Show” on Comedy central.  

While Fairleigh Dickinson University hold little academic weight, the study does raise some interesting questions.  Read the study.

This of course is not breaking news. There has been other studies that have shown similar findings such as the “MISPERCEPTIONS, THE MEDIA AND THE IRAQ WAR” published by the University of Maryland which showed “Fox News audience showed the highest average rate of  misperceptions—45%—while the NPR/PBS audience showed the lowest—11%” (Ramsay et a., 2003, p.13). 

Finally, in a third study by the same group titled “Misinformation and the 2010 Election A Study of the US Electorate” found that “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” (Ramsay et al., 2010 p. 20).  

I don’t support any one news group over the other. I’m just simply stating that in today’s day in age it is best to ignore the words from the horses mouth and seek out one’s own understanding.