The More You Watch Fox News, the More Wrong You Are

[unhappycamper]

The More You Watch Fox News, the More Wrong You Are
Le Droit, Canada
By Richard Hétu
Translated By Rachel Towers
17 December 2010
Edited by Piotr Bielinski

It’s a scientific conclusion researchers at the University of Maryland have arrived at. According to the data of their study, faithful watchers of Fox News are more susceptible than others to believe falsehoods, which is something we’ve known all along. What’s more, their level of ignorance or of misinformation is proportional to the number of hours they spend watching the Ruper Murdoch’s channel. In short, the more you listen to Glenn Beck or Sean Hannity, the more wrong you are.

I’ll cite in the text below what daily watchers of Fox News were more likely to believe (falsely) during the 2010 elections, as opposed to those who never watch the channel:

Most economists estimate the stimulus caused job losses (12 points more likely).
Most economists have estimated the health care law will worsen the deficit (31 points).
The economy is getting worse (26 points).
Most scientists do not agree that climate change is occurring (30 points).
The stimulus legislation did not include any tax cuts (14 points).
Their own income taxes have gone up (14 points).
The auto bailout only occurred under Obama (13 points).
When TARP came up for a vote, most Republicans opposed it (12 points).
And that it’s not clear that Obama was born in the United States (31 points).

Daily watchers of MSNBC, NPR and PBS were for their part more susceptible to believe (falsely) that it had been proven that the Chamber of Commerce of the United States had given Republican candidates money from foreign sources.