Does Fox News spread misinformation...

[Doomstone]

Or do people who want to be misinformed tend to watch Fox News?

The discussion about bias in the media in another thread reminded me of a study I saw a few days ago by the Program on International Policy Attitudes. They came to the conclusion that, yes, Fox News viewers were more likely to buy into misconceptions about the Iraq war than those who get their news from other sources.

http://www.calpundit.com/blogphotos/Blog_Misperceptions.gif



The extent of Americans' misperceptions vary significantly depending on their source of news. Those who receive most of their news from Fox News are more likely than average to have misperceptions. Those who receive most of their news from NPR or PBS are less likely to have misperceptions. These variations cannot simply be explained as a result of differences in the demographic characteristics of each audience, because these variations can also be found when comparing the demographic subgroups of each audience.


http://www.pipa.org
http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Iraq/Media_10_02_03_Report.pdf

I wonder what the results would look like if they did a similar study on domestic issues. It's pretty interesting stuff and well worth the read.

[Steels]

Does Fox News spread misinformation

No, you're thread title is actually a misinformation spread by most liberals. How ironic..

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This message was edited by Steels on 10-6-03 @ 1:18 AM

[Death Metal Moe]

Please. Who funded this study?

Give me a break. Like I'd believe this communists.

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[Snoogans]

yea seriously how the fuck do they know to even come up with stats

Horseshit

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[TheMojoPin]

I'd say no. Not in their actual news reporting.

This actually taps into what I was trying to bring up in recent threads. I don't feel Fox or the other news outlets have a MALICIOUS bias...I view it as a different perspective.

As much as we'd like to think to the contrary that news can be reported without ANY bias, as long as people are involved, that will NEVER be the case. Fox simply tends to sway a different way from a network like CNN.

And I think a key difference needs to be pointed out here is that probably what this study views as "misconception" probably comes from what most plagues Fox News...talk shows taking the key programming times, as opposed to actual news programs. People seem to honestly think that watching something like "The O'Reilly Factor" and "Hannity & Colmes" equates to keeping up on current events. It's not. It's the equivalent of a CNN viewer watching "Larry King Live" and thinking they got the headlines of the day.

Fox News IS a credible news organization...but they're watered down by talk shows and pundits (You KNEW it had to come back) that take away from their actual news reporting. Debates, color commentary, viewer e-mails...this is all fine as a SIDE SHOW. But when they become your MAIN attraction, you end up making people's opinions for them before they had a chance to make them themselves, whether intentionally or not.

Look at Fox's programming from prime time through three in the morning. Practically nothing but talk shows or debate programs, without ANY significant time given to straight up news reading, a la Headline News. MSNBC is rapidly sliding this way, and this is not a good thing.

I would be suprised if the hardcore Fox fans here didn't feel this way as well. There's only so much yammering you can take on carefully pre-selected topics before you're yearning for some actual news reporting, "bias" or not.

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[TheMojoPin]

No, but that opinion is actually a misinformation spread by most liberals.

Give me a break. Like I'd believe this communists.

I'm suprised you guys didn't show up in the thread on the JFK assasination thread.

"Well, how can you explain away this evidence against Oswald?"

"If the autopsy X-rays and photos show evidence of a single head- shot from the rear, well, they must be fakes. If the wounds on Kennedy's body are consistent with a single-gunman, well, the body must have been altered. If the neutron activation analysis shows the single- bullet theory to be correct, well, the evidence has been tampered with. And, if you do not like the conclusions of a professional panel, well, they must have ties to the government!"

vs.

"What about this study/story/opinion here?"

"Please. You believe that? It must be from LIBERALS."

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This message was edited by TheMojoPin on 10-6-03 @ 1:31 AM

[Steels]

Please. You believe that? It's from LIBERALS

No of course not, it was what I believed to be a witty means to discredit his ridiculous thread. I actually think you put it very nicely with the quote below.

I don't feel Fox or the other news outlets have a MALICIOUS bias...I view it as a different perspective.


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[Doomstone]

No of course not, it was what I believed to be a witty means to discredit his ridiculous thread.

And you failed at both being witty and discrediting this thread.

I actually don't watch TV news at all, so I really don't know. I also didn't make any accusations. I thought it would be a good discussion topic, but why discuss anything when you can just blame evil liberals?

Did you even read the report? Considering your reply came 4 minutes after the initial post, I'd say no.

And Mojo, good insight. Thanks.

[TooCute]

Ehh, I don't know, Mojo, I have my doubts as to the actual quality of FOX's news reporting, but then I have doubts for most of the major news networks. I think I mentioned it before, but I'll reiterate it because it just stuck out in my mind so clearly. I remeber a time when the FOX network was had their reporters saying "for all intents and purposes, the war in Iraq is over!". Meanwhile I flipper to some otehr station and some army general or other, I forget who, was going on about how the war was nowhere near over, there was still a lot to be done, blah blah blah.

Obviously it's not that any of these stations are spreading lies, per se, but they all seem to have blatant editorialization by the newscasters. Perhaps the study is showing that FOX is worse than most in terms of being misleading? Or is it a reflection on the people that watch FOX. I don't know, and it would be very difficult to really create a study that would show the difference between the two, anyhow.

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[NewYorkDragons80]

Perhaps the people who watch Fox News already have the misconceptions and they just so happen to watch Fox more often than the others.

Mojo makes some slam-dunk points. I enjoy watching Fox News more than probably any other channel, but their reporting is dangerously blending entertainment and information. It's cool to jazz up what the overall appearance of the program, but not at the expense of the knowledge people came for.

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This message was edited by NewYorkDragons80 on 10-6-03 @ 2:28 AM

[Steels]

And you failed at both being witty and discrediting this thread.

You're such a sore loser. Or is it just a plain loser?

Did you even read the report? Considering your reply came 4 minutes after the initial post, I'd say no.


Wrong again.

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[Reephdweller]

Ehh, I don't know, Mojo, I have my doubts as to the actual quality of FOX's news reporting, but then I have doubts for most of the major news networks. I think I mentioned it before, but I'll reiterate it because it just stuck out in my mind so clearly. I remeber a time when the FOX network was had their reporters saying "for all intents and purposes, the war in Iraq is over!". Meanwhile I flipper to some otehr station and some army general or other, I forget who, was going on about how the war was nowhere near over, there was still a lot to be done, blah blah blah.

Obviously it's not that any of these stations are spreading lies, per se, but they all seem to have blatant editorialization by the newscasters. Perhaps the study is showing that FOX is worse than most in terms of being misleading?



I think that in the case you refer to, and similar things that I've seen myself it comes down more to the fact that the FOX news network needs to sharpen up their journalistic standards more. I regularly watch the Fox news network because I prefer the reporting. I think it is balanced. The only thing I do see them do is once in a while jump the gun on a news story or report something that comes in over the wires and not wait for more information. They then have to report later that the story was false. But I've seen MSNBC do the same as well. As far as news reporting goes I prefer Fox. When a story breaks I tend to go from Fox to MSNBC to CNN.

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[silera]

The only thing I do see them do is once in a while jump the gun on a news story or report something that comes in over the wires and not wait for more information. They then have to report later that the story was false.


Yeah, but then there are lots of people that will hear the initial wrong story and not the follow up retraction.



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This message was edited by silera on 10-6-03 @ 9:31 AM

[Teenweek]

Doesn't every network do that. If I listened to NBC and CBS, I would believe that Al Gore is currently the president.

[silera]

I've never watch network news so I wouldn't know. In general though, I'd say the majority of people are too eager to accept news as an absolute truth.

EDIT: I guess the Daily Show counts as news to me.

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This message was edited by silera on 10-6-03 @ 9:48 AM

[TheMojoPin]

If I listened to NBC and CBS, I would believe that Al Gore is currently the president.

Are we thinking of the same CBS? They're easily the most "conservative" of the original big three networks.

And Silera bringing up "The Daily Show" made me think that someone getting their news from THAT show would be comparable to someone thinking they've gotten their news from "Hannity & Colmes".

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[Se7en]

You know, Mojo, I was just sitting here thinking, you and I were having a pretty interesting and thought provoking discussion about the media over in the Arnold thread, and then Doomstone posts this tripe.

Anyway, I agree with most, if not all, of your points.

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[Death Metal Moe]

The problem isn't each network's slant as much as a person getting their news from one source or worse, one news talk show.

Can we all at least agree on that?

I appreciate FOX New's choice NOT to fall into a negative slant on certian stories as quickly as CNN or the network shows. But I still check MSNBC or CNN if a big story breaks, as painful as it is for me to admit that.

I get opinions from Rush, Hannity and Colmes, O' Reiley or Scarborough but I still try to get facts from other places like another station or even HERE.

You people may hear something on NPR or some other area that I would never tune into and it may raise a certian question in my head. This usually doesn't make me feel like I was wrong, but it may make me go back and re-examine the facts or search for more facts of just stop and re-examine my own position for a second to see what I think with this new opinion.

The free exchange of ideas is usually nide, until the dick jokes start. And then it's just hysterical.

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[TheMojoPin]

I get opinions from Rush, Hannity and Colmes, O' Reiley or Scarborough

Which leads me to ANOTHER point about talk show-"journalism"...

YOUR opinions or theirs?

I was talking over the recent Iraq war with a co-worker and she prefaced practically EVERY point with, "Hannity said this..." or "O'Reilly thought that this...". It was actually kind of annoying after a while, and a little worrisome. She had what seemed like little to no opinions of her own on the current events of the day.

I fully understand wanting to hear someone else's opinion to help inform your own, but it's scary how much these types of shows are making people's opinions FOR them.

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[Recyclerz]

Oh, you fancy people with your abstract thought and your free will and your whatnot.

Give it up! I haven't had a thought that wasn't put in my head by a major corporation for the last 20 years and I'm none the worse for it. :p

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[HBox]

Can I ask a question and get an honest answer? How many of you who were quick to dismiss this study actually read it at all? I mean, do you just automatically dismiss news like this and then chuckle "Oh, that liberal media is at it again!"

And please don't assume that I agree with this study. I haven't read it, but I would think it's wrong. I have no problem with the accuracy of the news on Fox News. My problem lies more with what some of what they cover (car chases, Laci Peterson) and the amount of pundits (Hannity, O'Reilly) they fill their time with.

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[UnknownPD]

My problem lies more with what some of what they cover (car chases, Laci Peterson) and the amount of pundits

All three of the major cable networks primetime schedules are filled with "pundit" shows. CNN Anderson Cooper, Paula Zahn, Larry King and Aaron Brown, MSNBC is Hardball, Abrams, Olbermann and Scarborough.

Now for my pontification

The simple fact is we tend to watch shows that echo what we already feel. If you remember the stories of Harry Elvis' father reading the Turkish paper because it told the truth. The reality is that stuff tends to mirror what he already thought. Just like people who only watch Fox or PBS.

This the danger of the Internet/Cable age people never have to listen to a divergent opinion. You can as been hypothesized create a "Daily Me" picking and choosing your sources of news. By reading or watching only the parts of news that interest you, you are never exposed to things outside your sphere. The more this happens the more balkanized we become as a society.

[Reephdweller]

Which leads me to ANOTHER point about talk show-"journalism"...

YOUR opinions or theirs?

I was talking over the recent Iraq war with a co-worker and she prefaced practically EVERY point with, "Hannity said this..." or "O'Reilly thought that this...". It was actually kind of annoying after a while, and a little worrisome. She had what seemed like little to no opinions of her own on the current events of the day.


You raise a good point, but it should be noted that while people may like myself who will listen to Rush's show, or whoevers show, I don't just hear what the say and take it as gospel. I am always interested in hearing other view points and gleaning my own view or perspective on things. I can hear a conservative and agree with them, and then turn around and agree with a liberal view of something.

There certainly are people who take anything that Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh says and lives by it, but there are also others who are intelligent and open minded enough to want to hear other sides. I love to debate and discuss various topics because I know that while certain issues and beliefs I may be set in my ways, but on others I am totally open to ideas and thoughts.

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[TheMojoPin]

It's not that I want these hosts and pundits gone or censored...I just think it's a very, VERY poor thing to have them be the CORNERSTONE of a news network, as it is with Fox and MSNBC, and a quickly changing CNN as well...

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[FMJeff]

"If the autopsy X-rays and photos show evidence of a single head- shot from the rear, well, they must be fakes. If the wounds on Kennedy's body are consistent with a single-gunman, well, the body must have been altered. If the neutron activation analysis shows the single- bullet theory to be correct, well, the evidence has been tampered with. And, if you do not like the conclusions of a professional panel, well, they must have ties to the government!"


back...and to the left....back...and to the left...

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