People in New Jersey who watch Sunday Morning News Shows know more about stuff than the average person, and people who get their “information” mainly from Fox News know the least, according to a Fairleight Dickenson University poll.
In themost recent study, the poll asked New Jerseyans about current events at home andabroad, and from what sources – if any – they get their information…
New Jerseyans were asked about the outcome of the uprisings inNorth Africa and the Middle East this past year. While 53% of New Jerseyans know thatEgyptians were successful in overthrowing the government of Hosni Mubarak, 21% saythat the uprisings were unsuccessful, and 26% admit they don’t know. Also, 48% knowthat 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 fortheir news. For example, people who watch Fox News, the most popular of the 24-hourcable news networks, are 18-points less likely to know that Egyptians overthrew theirgovernment than those who watch no news at all…
See more details on this totally expected result here.
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I haven’t read the original article, but the “correlation ? causation” alarm bell in my head is ringing quite loudly after reading several news reports on this.
Either, Fox news makes you stupid, or stupid people watch Fox news (or some third effect is causing both…) A simple poll like this can in no way distinguish between these scenarios.
The idea that Fox has come up with some form of anti-memory and is actively deploying it does sound rather interesting though!
This actually made the news here in Germany. My first thought was the same as Greg’s headline.
How else can you account for the result that Fox viewers actually know less about the news than people who watch no news at all?
But of course it could just be the John Stuart Mill effect: