Lockout Casualty Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Fox News Viewers Least Informed Among Media Consumers, Says New Study By Former Reagan Adviser Fox News viewers tend to be less informed about current affairs than people who obtain their news from other news sources and are even less informed than people “who don’t watch any news at all.” That is the controversial conclusion of a new study by Bruce Bartlett, a conservative economist, Treasury Department official under President George H.W. Bush and former adviser on domestic policy to President Ronald Reagan. The study, titled “How Fox News Changed American Media and Political Dynamics,” observed that since Fox News Channel launched in October 7, 1996 to 17 million cable subscribers, it has become the sole source of news for many Americans with conservative political leaning who previously had no access to a news outlet providing news exclusively from a conservative point of view. But by restricting themselves to only one major news source, refusing “to even listen to any news or opinion not vetted through Fox” and accepting as truth every information that appears on the channel, many Fox News viewers have become victims of what the study termed “self-brainwashing.” “Like someone dying of thirst in the desert, conservatives drank heavily from the Fox waters. Soon, it became the dominant – and in many cases, virtually the only – major news source for millions of Americans. This has had profound political implications that are only starting to be appreciated. Indeed, it can almost be called self-brainwashing – many conservatives now refuse to even listen to any news or opinion not vetted through Fox, and to believe whatever appears on it as the gospel truth.” Bartlett said that after the September 11, 2011 attacks, Fox News shifted farther right and transformed from a network set up to present news with a conservative tilt into one peddling misinformation and propaganda to the effect that Fox News viewers became the least informed among media consumers. The observation echoes frequent accusations from critics of the network that it is often guilty of news reporting inaccuracies. In February, 2015, The Daily Show released a spoof video titled “50 Fox News lies in 6 seconds,” which listed examples of the network’s alleged reporting inaccuracies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQXK3g3qO6E The study found that even after taking into account or controlling for news obtained from other sources, educational attainment, partisanship, and other relevant demographic factors, Fox News viewers were still 18 points less likely to know that the Egyptians overthrew the government of former President Mohamed Morsi. They were also 6 points less likely to know that the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria has not been overthrown. Commenting on the findings, Dan Cassino, Farleigh Dickinson University professor of political science, said, “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.” Citing a University of Georgia study, Bartlett said that Fox News‘ misinformation and propaganda during the 2012 general election helped to lull Republican viewers into a false sense of security “Exposure to programs featured on Fox News, such as those hosted by Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity, resulted in a greater wishful thinking effect by Romney supporters. While Romney supporters were substantially more likely to predict their candidate would win the 2012 presidential election, watching Fox News programming exacerbated this effect.” Based on the results of the University of Georgia study, Bartlett concluded that “it may be that some Republican Fox viewers became complacent and didn’t work as hard as they might if they had been more aware of how badly Romney was doing in the final days of the campaign.” The study also concluded that Fox News viewers often subscribe to beliefs about major issues of foreign and domestic policy, such as the Iraq War and the Affordable Care Act, that were not based on objective facts. Fox News viewers also tend to be biased against minorities. “It appears that right-wing bias, including inaccurate reporting, became commonplace on Fox,” the study said. Fox’s slanted coverage of political news, according to the study, has kept the GOP base in a constant state of anger, forcing GOP politicians to shift further right to satisfy the demands of their voter base. The study quoted Lincoln Mitchell, a Columbia University political scientist, who said in 2010 that Fox News’ success in keeping the right wing base mobilized and angry has made it difficult for the party to implement a move to the center as a way of widening its voter appeal and improving its competitiveness. According to Mitchell, the 2012 GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney was unable to implement a strategic pivot to the center during the general election due to sustained pressure from the party’s far right with the backing of Fox News propaganda. Bartlett is not the first conservative public figure who has criticized the network over perceived reporting inaccuracies and bias. The former Republican Senator Tom Coburn, from Oklahoma, also alleged that Fox News was “totally not fair and totally not balanced” in its new coverage. Newt Gingrich, 2012 Republican presidential candidate, accused the network of biased coverage of the GOP primaries and “distortion of facts.” He said that in his experience “CNN coverage of the primaries was fairer and more balanced than Fox News’.” The study conclusions are bound to be controversial and Fox News viewers will reject it as biased. http://www.inquisitr.com/2105906/fox-news-viewers-least-informed-among-media-consumers-says-new-study-by-former-reagan-adviser/ In light of the slew of Fox News posts, this seems appropriate. Have to admit, the description of the average Fox News viewer (ignorant, prejudiced, afraid) very accurately reflects my experience, eerily so in fact. It would be amusing to see Fox News go from being a huge thorn in any rational American's side to an unwitting hero of the left by driving the right wing completely off the cliff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heretic Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 The real question is - why are they (Fox) doing it? Instead of presenting just the facts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sapper Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Why does Duck dynasty have the cult base that it does? Americans love their reality TV shows and the Fox news is like a train wreck that they can't take their eyes off lol In all seriousness follow the money trail. Listen to the Donal Trumps of the world then fox news .... it becomes clear who their target audience is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inane Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Getting your information from one source, regardless of the source is stupid. But Fox news isn't news, it's just entertainment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortorella's Rant Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Obviously. Have you ever tried to have a discussion or debate with a Fox watcher? It's Fing impossible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lockout Casualty Posted July 23, 2015 Author Share Posted July 23, 2015 Obviously. Have you ever tried to have a discussion or debate with a Fox watcher? It's Fing impossible. I did, but he ignored me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMapleLaughs Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 "War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. " "The choice for mankind lies between freedom and happiness and for the great bulk of mankind, happiness is better. " "One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship." -George Orwell, 1984 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canada Hockey Place Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 IMO Fox News appeals to a demographic unable to face certain realities which puts the blame on the viewer. Blame other countries, the other political party, blame everything else, etc.... It makes the viewer feel better than how other networks report it because it's catered to support their opinions. I don't think it's necessarily dangerous in itself. The danger is if it become the only source of information. But the same could be said for other networks. News is always editorialized. It gives the people what they want, in a way they want to hear it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falcon45ca Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 The real question is - why are they (Fox) doing it? Instead of presenting just the facts? Not too tricky a question, conservative bent news is a niche market that nobody else fills like Fox, as the article stated many conservative Americans only get their news from Fox...it's about the money Lebowski. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monteeun Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 IMO Fox News appeals to a demographic unable to face certain realities which puts the blame on the viewer. Blame other countries, the other political party, blame everything else, etc.... It makes the viewer feel better than how other networks report it because it's catered to support their opinions. I don't think it's necessarily dangerous in itself. The danger is if it become the only source of information. But the same could be said for other networks. News is always editorialized. It gives the people what they want, in a way they want to hear it. I also don't see fox news as real conservatism. Real conservatives wouldn't exactly believe in fox news way of thinking. The problem i see with fox is that they have become so mainstream that people see them as real news and real conservative ideology. Any real conservatives are ignored. But i agree with your view point. Cable news nowadays have become in most cases, just plain entertainment and ratings. No longer about the information. I just don't think people really watch cable news anymore, but i could be wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monteeun Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 The real question is - why are they (Fox) doing it? Instead of presenting just the facts? Presenting facts doesn't appeal to their viewers. Especially their older viewers. There is a joke out there that said Bill O'reilly is basically doing his show in a retirement center. There are only certain anchors you can respect and you have to dig hard to find them, but there are times, when those anchors are unfortunately forced out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Fox News is less about an overall conservative view and more about the conservative sub set of the 1% wanting to perpetuate their ability make more and more money at the expense of logic and the health of the US in general. What I've never understood is how the hosts (the majority of them at least) manage to keep straight faces while 'reporting' the crap they do. I guess you pay anyone enough money and they can read a script. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhippy Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 If you look at that video of lies, the vast majority are literally made to make specific presidents or those in office of specific political leanings look bad, or are geared towards the defense of large corporations by insulting or denigrating those opposed to large business...yet are bold faced lies. Fancy that INB4 someone doesn't have time to go and look at any other source of information yet levies a comment and complaint with a sole source link and copy/paste job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox Mulder Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Fox entertainment is awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdatb Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Not that I disagree that Fox News is notoriously right-wing, but its ironic that OP posts an article from inquisitr which states it. Pot, meet kettle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lockout Casualty Posted July 23, 2015 Author Share Posted July 23, 2015 Not that I disagree that Fox News is notoriously right-wing, but its ironic that OP posts an article from inquisitr which states it. Pot, meet kettle. There's a difference in reporting an objective fact, like on a Ray-Gun adviser's paper, along with a bunch of other quotes from notable Republicans, and simply fabricating news. You can see Ambien's threads for the latter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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