Study Confirms That Fox News Makes You Stupid

[cerebus23]

Yes fox tends to be more right wing, cnn,msnbc any host of newspapers, all tend to be left leaning.

You could forge a study that says all left wing media makes people stupid.

Or you could just tell the truth any person that blindly follows one political party's "spin" aka lies no matter what is a wholly ignorant of the truth of most things.

Then you would be onto something.

This study says pretty much every major news organization is filled with shit, Fox news is just filled with slightly more.

Did you even read the article?

It has nothing to do with Liberals and Conservatives, it has everything to do with the fact that bias and extreme news sells.

Well the article "proves" that FOX NEWS viewers are stupid.

Half the "proof" is all subjective or just pure theorycraft.

I mean is health care going to be payed for with no tax increases and come in under budget? If you believe that i got some swamp land to sell you. There has not been a federally created program that has ever come in under budget that is a huge as health care. Social security balloned 100s of percent over the estimated costs when it was founded and is going to be utterly bankrupt in 15 to 40 years. Medicare same deal, again going to be bankrupt. SS and medicare are going to cost estimated 4 trillion with a T dollars, hey lets create another trillion dollar program we cannot afford, because there is some cooked up health care "crisis" in this nation. There was no crisis other than the sheer costs of doctors to due business with malpractice insurance, already stilfing paperwork due to federal and state run health care programs, that were already covering most people that could not afford their own health care.

Just because you think you deserve cradle to grave government, it was never covered in the actual constitution or the bill of rights that you had any right to health care.

Is the recession over? I still know a ton of people that cannot find work if it over it a damn slow recovery.

SO what exactly is out nation debt now? 10 trillion dollars? We have so much debt that if your 20 now you might as well forget it, SS will be gone by the time you grow up. Medicare will be gone. You and your kids will have crushing tax burden or a currency that is not worth the paper it is printed on because our politicians on BOTH sides of the isle spend and spend and spend and increase the power of the federal government, to the point that we cannot leverage any more debt and just have to print more money to cover our spending.

Enjoy your government run health care tho. You deserve it.....

Meanwhile anyone with half a brain should be finding a new country to move to, cause either your government is going to utterly collapse, or your going to have another civil war. Take your pick but you cannot just hand out government money left and right for every damn thing while your rights are ground into the dirt and except that things will just work out, the wheels are coming off the wagon, just is matter of when you (a generic you as in all you people) wake the hell up and realize it.

You can thank your government for collapsing your banking system to, and helping to trigger a worldwide recession, kudos to your brain trust in washington.

 

[sosolidshoe]

4) Fact: Global temperatures have increased. Global climate is undergoing a change. That my friend is all we agree on. You can't deny that temperatures have risen. I question whether it is man made or natural. It wasn't that long ago that they were talking about Global Cooling. I also understand, that no meteorologist has looked at whether or not recent activity on the Sun might have some effect. I do not know whether this is true, but I would hope not. Once more, I feel some healthy skepticism is deserved.

THIS. IS. CATEGORICALLY. UNEQUIVOCALLY. BULLSHIT.

<url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52KLGqDSAjo>It is man made, to an extremely high degree of certainty.
<url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5hs4KVeiAU>I'm not joking.
<url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU_AtHkB4Ms>The "Global Cooling" hoo-ha thrown about by denialists is bollocks.
<url=http://debunking.pbworks.com/w/page/17102974/Sunspots-and-Solar-Myth>So are the Solar Cycles, Solar Flares and Sunspots "hypotheses".

I urge you, check the links, watch the videos, read the sources. Climate change is real, it is almost certainly man-made, and while an individual might object to certain methods of dealing with it, or disagree with political policies based on economic grounds, to deny that it exists is ignorant, and to deny that it is man-made is dishonest.

 

[KiKiweaky]

aint from the US (and avoid FOX news like the plauge) but if I watch the news its generally euro news... Try it its great, covers a huge range of topics too.

 

[Saltyk]

4) Fact: Global temperatures have increased. Global climate is undergoing a change. That my friend is all we agree on. You can't deny that temperatures have risen. I question whether it is man made or natural. It wasn't that long ago that they were talking about Global Cooling. I also understand, that no meteorologist has looked at whether or not recent activity on the Sun might have some effect. I do not know whether this is true, but I would hope not. Once more, I feel some healthy skepticism is deserved.

THIS. IS. CATEGORICALLY. UNEQUIVOCALLY. BULLSHIT.

<url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52KLGqDSAjo>It is man made, to an extremely high degree of certainty.
<url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5hs4KVeiAU>I'm not joking.
<url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU_AtHkB4Ms>The "Global Cooling" hoo-ha thrown about by denialists is bollocks.
<url=http://debunking.pbworks.com/w/page/17102974/Sunspots-and-Solar-Myth>So are the Solar Cycles, Solar Flares and Sunspots "hypotheses".

I urge you, check the links, watch the videos, read the sources. Climate change is real, it is almost certainly man-made, and while an individual might object to certain methods of dealing with it, or disagree with political policies based on economic grounds, to deny that it exists is ignorant, and to deny that it is man-made is dishonest.

Thanks for the links. Very informative.
I'd also note that I do think we need to find and develop alternative sources of energy. I stated that in my previous comment.

This will all be moot when Lord Zemu returns and the world ends in 2012. /joke

 

[Isolda Sage]

Yeah..... the word tendentious comes to mind! First you start with a preconceived notion. Than you manipulate and cherry pick the facts to conform to said notion voila! You have a "study".
There is no such thing as unbiased news. People just pick the news source they best agree with and assume that that source is being honest at all times.

 

[Kryzantine]

Most American news sources are stupid. The problem is that reporting false news isn't illegal in America, and big business bought out the news companies in the 70s. Fox News just has a heavy conservative agenda, and takes advantage of the fact it's the most watched news network in America. But the same problem lies with ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, even MSNBC. You can't get good, impartial news in America. You have to look international: sources like The Guardian, BBC, Al-Jazeera, China Daily, etc. And the reason most Americans don't actively seek these sources out, is because their current media portrays them as promoting bad agendas. For instance, the BBC is British government propaganda (you know, despite the fact BBC occasionally goes against their government), and Al-Jazeera is probably labeled as news-for-terrorists.

America's news has become comedy. Ironically, our comedy has become news.

 

[Enemy Of The State]

I'm not from the USA, but here in Blighty we have similar problems with the media. Paticularly newspapers, rather than any particular TV news broadcaster. It's gotten to the point where I only trust the BBC for any news now, because they at least have some semblance of being neutral and unbiased. That is, I've never noticed any sort of bias in the news they report, whereas there's obvious bias with other stations and with most newspapers. Frankly, this doesn't surprise me in the slightest. I learned long ago that Fox News can't be trusted...

The USA has Fox News, we have The Sun and various other tabloids screaming their lies and celebrity rubbish.

 

[wasalp]

You realize the same could be said by a Republican about CNN, MSNBC, ABC, etc. It's difference of opinion. Fox is Anti-Obama, everywhere else is Pro-Obama (or it certainly seems that way). This "study" is nothing more than bias meant to spite those who work for the company, and who dare to offer a differing opinion to that of the extremely left-wing dems that run the administration. Quite frankly whatever new service you listen to will have a biased opinion because news is reported on by people. And those people who wright the reports add their bias and opinion to the piece. You say Fox can't be trusted. I say MSNBC can't be either.

yes, those other news stations are biased but the fox network is just...not even subtle about it. Come on they hired 3-4 republican party members( Palin, Mike Huckabee, Karl Rove, etc.). Then they the show with Glenn Beck(he's not an ass hole...he's just crazy) and the one Bill O'Reilly(he's an ass hole).

 

[Twilight_guy]

A. Your journalism sucks. the bias is so clear that I'm surprised anyone would stand it.
B. Intelligence != knowledge. Being ignorant is not equal to being stupid. Being misinformed does not make a person dumb.
C. Yeah, I'm not going to trust your online news site because it looks... well it looks like a site focused on sensation more then fact.

 

[Enkidu88]

Fox is undoubtedly the most obvious panderer of news and I personally despise them, but unfortunately they could make a study like this for CNN or MSNBC and probably get the same results.

This clip is relevant (just replace news shows with newspapers): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGscoaUWW2M&feature=related

 

[2xDouble]

Well, after seeing a lot of opinions just in response to this page... Jon Stewart (of the fake-news comedy program The Daily Show, in case you've been living under a rock the last 11-odd years) winning "most trusted name in news" isn't sounding so silly anymore.

What they should do, perhaps, is keep the real news on the actual News, and change the 24-hour propaganda machines to say exactly what they are, opinion channels. As pointed out by The Daily Show (talking specifically about FoxNews, but is applicable to all 24-hour "news" networks): Of the 24 hours of programming, only about 3-4 hours are actually news. I say quit jerking us around and pretending you're giving facts you're clueless about. Own up to the fact you make up 70-80% of your programming and accept it.

Or better yet, we can all not watch the 24-hour opinion, propaganda, and brainwashing channels (and probably The Daily Show too, they seem fishy since they've proven themselves trusted by the masses) and go back to just watching real news.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

As a brit I find the idea that MSNBC is leftist amazing, from what I've seen you have a choice between way right (Fox) and mildly right.

It seems US left is UK medium right, despite our print media being FOX levels of right (no surprise, as the biggest selling newspaper is owned by the guy that owns FOX.)

I'm BBC has a mild left bias, but it needs it to counter the ridiculous levels of right bias everywhere else.

As for Colbert/Stewart, if they actually chose to give up their TV careers to run, I'd vote for them, as political satirists actually need to be constantly informing themselves of the poliical landscape, not just locally but on a worldwide levels, and can't rely on sliding into power based on a 'Ah don't like the gays, and they wanna take away our guns' manifesto.

I think one of the biggest problems is, no-one WANTS to hear honesty from a politician, they just want to hear that everything will be ok, and it's all going to get better without making any sacrifices.

Obama is a good example, he was built up as Jesus Barack Christ on a Segway, when in fact, he's just a normal human guy, left with a metric fuckload of shit to clean up, which he'd then get blamed for. I'm not saying he's great, I'm saying there's no way he could effect changes needed without smashing his unfair miracle worker image.

 

[spartan231490]

Source: http://www.alternet.org/media/149193/study_confirms_that_fox_news_makes_you_stupid

December 15, 2010: Yet another study has been released proving that watching Fox News is detrimental to your intelligence. World Public Opinion, a project managed by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, conducted a survey of American voters that shows that Fox News viewers are significantly more misinformed than consumers of news from other sources. What?s more, the study shows that greater exposure to Fox News increases misinformation.

So the more you watch, the less you know. Or to be precise, the more you think you know that is actually false. This study corroborates a previous PIPA study that focused on the Iraq war with similar results. And there was an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll that demonstrated the break with reality on the part of Fox viewers with regard to health care. The body of evidence that Fox News is nothing but a propaganda machine dedicated to lies is growing by the day.

In eight of the nine questions below, Fox News placed first in the percentage of those who were misinformed (they placed second in the question on TARP). That?s a pretty high batting average for journalistic fraud. Here is a list of what Fox News viewers believe that just aint so:


?91 percent believe the stimulus legislation lost jobs
?72 percent believe the health reform law will increase the deficit
?72 percent believe the economy is getting worse
?60 percent believe climate change is not occurring
?49 percent believe income taxes have gone up
?63 percent believe the stimulus legislation did not include any tax cuts
?56 percent believe Obama initiated the GM/Chrysler bailout
?38 percent believe that most Republicans opposed TARP
?63 percent believe Obama was not born in the U.S. (or that it is unclear)

The conclusion is inescapable. Fox News is deliberately misinforming its viewers and it is doing so for a reason. Every issue above is one in which the Republican Party had a vested interest. The GOP benefited from the ignorance that Fox News helped to proliferate. The results were apparent in the election last month as voters based their decisions on demonstrably false information fed to them by Fox News.

By the way, the rest of the media was not blameless. CNN and the broadcast network news operations fared only slightly better in many cases. Even MSNBC, which had the best record of accurately informing viewers, has a ways to go before it can brag about it.

The conclusions in this study need to be disseminated as broadly as possible. Fox?s competitors need to report these results and produce ad campaigns featuring them. Newspapers and magazines need to publish the study across the country. This is big news and it is critical that the nation be advised that a major news enterprise is poisoning their minds.

This is not an isolated review of Fox?s performance. It has been corroborated time and time again. The fact that Fox News is so blatantly dishonest, and the effects of that dishonesty have become ingrained in an electorate that has been been purposefully deceived, needs to be made known to every American. Our democracy cannot function if voters are making choices based on lies. We have the evidence that Fox is tilting the scales and we must now make certain its corporate owners do not get away with it.

While I'm sure most of us knew that Fox News was filled with misinformation this is the first time I've seen an actual study that confirmed it. So what do you guys think? Is Fox News purposefully misleading its audience or are they simply stupid?

This could be a reverse of causality. the less you know, the more likely you are to watch fox news? If you know anything, the lies on fox news offend you so you stop? That's the trouble with so many studies, they establish that there is a corelation, but not why. one could cause the other, or the other could cause the one, or even something else could cause both.