Some News Leaves People Knowing Less

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According to the latest results from Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind Poll,

some news sources make us less likely to know what’s going on in the world. In the

most recent study, the poll asked New Jerseyans about current events at home and

abroad, and from what sources – if any – they get their information. The conclusion:

Sunday morning news shows do the most to help people learn about current events,

while some outlets, especially Fox News, lead people to be even less informed than

those who they don’t watch any news at all.

Among other topics, New Jerseyans were asked about the outcome of the uprisings in

North Africa and the Middle East this past year. While 53% of New Jerseyans know that

Egyptians were successful in overthrowing the government of Hosni Mubarak, 21% say

that the uprisings were unsuccessful, and 26% admit they don’t know. Also, 48% know

that the Syrian uprising has thus far been unsuccessful, while 36% say they don’t know,

and 16% say the Syrians have already toppled their government.

But the real finding is that the results depend on what media sources people turn to for

their news. For example, people who watch Fox News, the most popular of the 24-hour

cable news networks, are 18-points less likely to know that Egyptians overthrew their

government than those who watch no news at all (after controlling for other news

sources, partisanship, education and other demographic factors). Fox News watchers

are also 6-points less likely to know that Syrians have not yet overthrown their

government than those who watch no news.

"Because of the controls for partisanship, we know these results are not just driven by

Republicans or other groups being more likely to watch Fox News," said Dan Cassino, a

professor of political science at Fairleigh Dickinson and an analyst for the PublicMind

Poll. "Rather, the results show us that there is something about watching Fox News that

leads people to do worse on these questions than those who don’t watch any news at

all."

By contrast, some media sources have a positive effect on political knowledge. For

example, people who report reading a national newspaper like The New York Times or

USA Today are 12-points more likely to know that Egyptians have overthrown their

government than those who have not looked at any news source. And those who listen

to the non-profit NPR radio network are 11-points more likely to know the outcome of

the revolt against Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. However, the best informed

respondents are those that watched Sunday morning news programs: leading to a 16-

point increase in the likelihood of knowing what happened in Egypt and an 8-point

increase in the likelihood of knowing what happened in Syria.

"Sunday morning news shows tend to spend a lot more time on a single issue than other

news broadcasts, and they are less likely to degenerate into people shouting at each

other," said Cassino. "Viewers pick up more information from this sort of calm discussion

than from other formats. Unfortunately, these shows have a much smaller audience than

the shouters."

http://publicmind.fdu.edu/2011/knowless/

[Obama 2012 1,714]

oh please. The problem with studies like this is they aren't about the "NEWS" part of a station at all, they are about the political-guru segments.

You're not going to learn anything more from Rachel Madcow than you are from Sean Vanity...

[Ban Hammer 13,349]

Among other topics, New Jerseyans were asked about the outcome of the uprisings in

North Africa and the Middle East this past year.

maybe the problem is what state they confined their questioning to.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

College Students.