U. of Maryland report: Trust Fox News and be forever in the dark

The report is issued by the University of Maryland’s Program on International Policy Attitudes. It’s very recent, dated 02 October 2003.

Skip on down to page 14 (page 12 if you print it) and you will see this little conclusion:

“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 their news from NPR or PBS are less likely to have misperceptions.” (Emphasis mine.)

I think the preferred word should be “misrepresentations”, not “misperceptions”.

Here’s the link: <http://www.pipa.org/> Report is titled: “Misperception, The Media and The Iraq War”

We report, you decide. Sure.

Before the run-up to the war in Iraq, I was not aware of any polling ever done that asked Americans what facts they believed to be true. Opinion polling is one thing, but this group has done a great service in pointing out how misinformed people are. The ramifications for our democratic system are really scary.

Obviously the mainstream media has failed miserably in its responsiblity for promoting "the informed consent of the governed." Citizens can't be expected to be knowledgeable about all the arcane intricacies of public policy, but it is astonishing that so many are so misguided on basic facts.

We can blame Fox, but all major media outfits share some culpability. We desperately need need new actors to combat the widespread misperceptions that threaten democracy. What can we do?

The findings are fascinating, especially for the cluelessness of hard-core supporters of the war. It reminds me of a English professor who described the phrase "contumaciously ignorant" (Dumb, and belligerently intent on staying that way.)

It has made (sort of) major news outlets here: http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/special_packages/iraq/6918170.htm

Anyone want to bet that Fox won't have this report on their home page?

"We blather, you gibber"

And of course we can expect Fox to be attacking Bob Novak's alma mater any day now.

I've tried point this kinda shit to my grandpa, a Fox News junkie, that they are not as fair and balenced as they claim to be, but he still believes in the liberal media myth. How do you convince these kinda dittosheads and freepers that it isn't true. He won't even read any of the books I offer him like What Liberal Media, Big Lies, and Lies and the Lying Liers who tell them. He won;t read them because they are still "liberally biased"! How do you cure these kinda people.

... if I had an answer, there'd be far fewer Republicans in this country. My father in-law was a rabid Repug and was rasied with some racist attitudes, but he was polite enough to listen to when others were speaking - especially his family. My wife has been working on him for 20+ years, and with every new book he reads, he finds he has to reassess his beliefs. He is now reading Queen Noor Al Hussein's book and is having to retool some of his thinking on the history of the Palestinian conflict and the region.

He didn't vote for Bush in the last election, and he won't vote for him in this one. He now sounds like a liberal.

But it took twenty years. And a willingness on his part to listen and incorporate knowledge.

Perhaps rather than giving him books like "Big Lies", a history book on Theodore Roosevelt (a Republican president) and his fight to regulate rampant corporatism at the turn of the century. The parallels with today's climate are strong, and it might be a talking point he will listen too.

Good luck!