Media Responsible For Public Misperception?
Eviscerator
Join Date: 2003-02-24 Member: 13946Members, Constellation
Join Date: 2003-02-24 Member: 13946Members, Constellation
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<div class="IPBDescription">A PIPA/Knowledge Works Study</div> There are two parts to this. Apologize for the length, but it's good stuff. The first one is a report done on public opinion regarding the Iraq war and its justification. The second one, down further, is regarding how Fox news and other mainstream media outlets are directly responsible for public misperceptions about the reasons for the Iraq war.
Here is the first PDF report: <a href='http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Iraq/Nov_13_03_iraq_report.pdf' target='_blank'>Report of Findings</a> and here is the more terse press release: <a href='http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Iraq/Nov_13_03_iraq_press.pdf' target='_blank'>Press Release</a>
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Majority Believes US Acted on Incorrect Assumptions in Rush to War
Does Not Believe Evidence on Iraqi WMD, Al Qaeda Links, Human Rights,
Met Proper Standards for Going to War
Believes Bush Was Determined to Go to War Irrespective of Evidence
No Clear Consensus For or Against Decision to Go To War
Support for Iraq Reconstruction Undaunted
For Release: Nov. 13, 2003, 12:15 pm Contact: Steven Kull (202) 232-7500
College Park, MD: According to a new PIPA-Knowledge Networks poll, a majority of
Americans (55%) believe that the Bush administration went to war on the basis of
incorrect assumptions. An overwhelming 87% said that, before the war, the Bush
administration portrayed Iraq as an imminent threat, while a majority (58%) believes that
the administration did not have evidence for this and only 42% believe that it was the
case. A majority believes that the US went to war precipitously, with 61% saying that the
US should have taken more time to find out if Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and
59% saying it should have taken more time to build international support.
A majority of Americans believe that the evidence that the US had on Iraq did not meet
the proper international standards for going to war without UN approval. While most
believe that countries have the right to go to war if they have evidence they are in
imminent danger of being attacked with WMD, only a minority also believes that the US
had such evidence (32%) or, given what is known now, that Iraq in fact posed such a
threat (35%). A majority (53%) believes the US had evidence that Iraq was acquiring
WMD that could be used against it at some point in the future, but only 31% said such
evidence legitimates going to war.
A strong majority (67%) believes that countries have the right to overthrow governments,
without UN approval, if they have strong evidence that the government is providing
substantial support to a terrorist group that has attacked them. However only 38% both
believe this and think the US had strong evidence that Iraq was providing substantial
support to al-Qaeda.
Most Americans believe President Bush was determined to go to war irrespective of the
evidence. If US intelligence services had told the president there was no reliable evidence
that Iraq possessed or was building weapons of mass destruction or was providing
substantial support to al-Qaeda, 63% said he would still have gone to war.
Majorities are questioning the president’s veracity. Only 42% said that the president is
honest and frank, while 56% said they have doubts about things he says. Seventy-two
percent (up from 63% in July) said that when the administration presented evidence of
Iraqi WMD to justify going to war, it was either presenting evidence it knew was false
(21%) or stretching the truth (51%).
This shift may be related to a sharp drop in the misperception that the US has found
WMD in Iraq from 24% in September to 15% now, perhaps in response to the interim
report by David Kay, head of the Iraq Survey Group.
Growing doubts about the president’s veracity may help explain a 12-point jump in the
percentage saying that the president’s handling of Iraq has decreased their likelihood to
vote for him. This number has jumped from 30% in PIPA/KN’s August-September poll
to 42% in the current poll, and is now higher than the 35% who say that his handling of
Iraq has increased their likelihood of voting for him (no effect: 21%).
A majority also does not believe that the US had the right to go to war based on Iraq’s
human rights record. Only 27% think that countries have the right, without UN approval,
to overthrow another government that is committing substantial violations of its citizens’
human rights. A majority supports intervention if the violations are large-scale, extreme
and equivalent to genocide, but only 32% both believe this and think Iraq was
committing this level of human rights violations. An additional 12% saw intervention
justified on the basis of substantial violations alone, and believed that only this standard
was met.
Despite these doubts, only 38% take the position that going to war was the wrong
decision. Forty-two percent say the war was the best thing for the US and another 15%
support the war so as to support the president, though they are not sure if it was the best
thing to do. Sustaining this support is the belief that Iraq did have a WMD program
(71%) and was providing support to al-Qaeda (67%).
Steven Kull, director of PIPA comments, “The majority’s views about the decision to go
to war are nuanced. It believes there were legitimate concerns that prompted the
decision, while at the same time it believes the threat was not imminent and the decision
was taken precipitously, without proper international support.”
The public shows little enthusiasm for the administration’s handling of the postwar
reconstruction. Sixty-six percent said that the administration’s planning for postwar Iraq
was poor. Only 27% think that the number of terrorists in Iraq is lower than it was before
the war, while 35% think it higher and 35% think it is about the same.
Nonetheless, support for continuing the operation in Iraq is undaunted. Only a very small
minority (15%) favor withdrawing US troops. An overwhelming majority (77%)
continues to think the US has the responsibility to remain in Iraq until there is a stable
government. When asked how long US troops will need to be in Iraq, the median
estimate is three years—up from two years in earlier polls.
The poll did not find evidence to support the Bush administration’s complaint that the
media is overplaying the bad news in Iraq. The public did not appear to have an
exaggerated idea of how badly things are going in Iraq. The median respondent sharply
underestimated the number of attacks on US troops, only slightly overestimated the
number of US troops fatalities since the end of the war. Most assume that the majority of
the Iraqi people are glad that the US overthrew Saddam Hussein and want the US to stay
a while longer.
The PIPA/KN poll was conducted with a nationwide sample of 1,008 respondents
October 29-November 10. The margin of error was plus or minus 3-4.5%, depending on
whether the question was administered to the whole sample, three quarters or half of the
sample.
The poll was fielded by Knowledge Networks using its nationwide panel, which is
randomly selected from the entire adult population and subsequently provided internet
access. For more information about this methodology, go to
www.knowledgenetworks.com/ganp.
Funding for this research was provided by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Ford
Foundation.
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This second study done by PIPA is a little more scary. First the full PDF version: <a href='http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Iraq/Media_10_02_03_Report.pdf' target='_blank'>MISPERCEPTIONS, THE MEDIA AND THE IRAQ WAR</a> and now the terse press release: <a href='http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Iraq/Media_10_02_03_Press.pdf' target='_blank'>Study Finds Widespread Misperceptions on Iraq Highly Related to Support for War</a>
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->
Study Finds Widespread Misperceptions on Iraq
Highly Related to Support for War
Misperceptions Vary Widely Depending on News Source
Fox Viewers More Likely to Misperceive, PBS-NPR Less Likely
For release: 12 Noon, October 2, 2003 Contact: Steven Kull 202-232-7500
College Park, MD: A new study based on a series of seven nationwide polls conducted
from January through September of this year reveals that before and after the Iraq war, a
majority of Americans have had significant misperceptions and these are highly related to
support for the war with Iraq.
The polling, conducted by the Program on International Policy (PIPA) at the University
of Maryland and Knowledge Networks, also reveals that the frequency of these
misperceptions varies significantly according to individuals’ primary source of news.
Those who primarily watch Fox News are significantly more likely to have
misperceptions, while those who primarily listen to NPR or watch PBS are significantly
less likely.
An in-depth analysis of a series of polls conducted June through September found 48%
incorrectly believed that evidence of links between Iraq and al Qaeda have been found,
22% that weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq, and 25% that world
public opinion favored the US going to war with Iraq. Overall 60% had at least one of
these three misperceptions.
Such misperceptions are highly related to support for the war. Among those with none of
the misperceptions listed above, only 23% support the war. Among those with one of
these misperceptions, 53% support the war, rising to 78% for those who have two of the
misperceptions, and to 86% for those with all 3 misperceptions. Steven Kull, director of
PIPA, comments, “While we cannot assert that these misperceptions created the support
for going to war with Iraq, it does appear likely that support for the war would be
substantially lower if fewer members of the public had these misperceptions.”
The frequency of Americans’ misperceptions varies significantly depending on their
source of news. The percentage of respondents who had at least one or more of the three
misperceptions listed above is shown below.
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--c1--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>CODE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='CODE'><!--ec1-->
FOX CBS ABC NBC CNN Print Sources NPR/PBS
None of the 3 20% 30% 39% 45% 45% 53% 77%
1 or more 80 71 61 55 55 47 23
<!--c2--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--ec2-->
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->
Variations in misperceptions according to news source cannot simply be explained as a
result of differences in the demographics of each audience, because these variations can
also be found when comparing the rate of misperceptions within demographic subgroups
of each audience.
Another key perception—one that US intelligence agencies regard as unfounded—is that
Iraq was directly involved in September 11. Before the war approximately one in five
believed this and 13% even said they believed that they had seen conclusive evidence of
it. Polled June through September, the percentage saying that Iraq was directly involved
in 9/11 continued to be in the 20-25% range, while another 33-36% said they believed
that Iraq gave al-Qaeda substantial support. [Note: An August Washington Post poll
found that 69% thought it was at least “somewhat likely” that Saddam Hussein was
personally involved in 9/11—a different question than the PIPA/KN question that asked
respondents to come to a conclusion.
In the run-up to the war misperceptions were also highly related to support for going to
war. In February, among those who believed that Iraq was directly involved in
September 11, 58% said they would agree with the President’s decision to go to war
without UN approval. Among those who believed that Iraq had given al Qaeda
substantial support, but was not involved in September 11, approval dropped to 37%.
Among those who believed that a few al Qaeda individuals had contact with Iraqi
officials 32% were supportive, while among those who believed that there was no
connection at all just 25% felt that way. Polled during the war, among those who
incorrectly believed that world public opinion favored going to the war, 81% agreed with
the President’s decision to do so, while among those who knew that the world public
opinion was opposed only 28% agreed.
While it would seem that misperceptions are derived from a failure to pay attention to the
news, in fact, overall, those who pay greater attention to the news are no less likely to
have misperceptions. Among those who primarily watch Fox, those who pay more
attention are more likely to have misperceptions. Only those who mostly get their news
from print media have fewer misperceptions as they pay more attention.
The level of misperceptions varies according to Americans’ political positions.
Supporters of President Bush and Republicans are more likely to have misperceptions.
However, misperceptions do not appear to only be the result of bias, because a significant
number of people who do not have such political positions also have misperceptions.
For the entire study of seven polls the total sample was 9,611 respondents, and for the indepth
analysis for the polls conducted June through September the sample was 3,334
respondents. The polls were fielded by Knowledge Networks using its nationwide panel,
which is randomly selected from the entire adult population and subsequently provided
internet access. For more information about this methodology, go to
www.knowledgenetworks.com/ganp. Funding for this research was provided by the
Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Ford Foundation.
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I know that's really long, but I figured if I just linked to the sites it wouldn't be enough to get people to read them. What's really interesting to me is the dramatic difference of perception between viewers of Fox and those who view/listen to PBS/NPR. 80% of people watching Fox had one or more of the misperceptions, while only 23% of those watching PBS and NPR had those same misperceptions. This conclusion seems to be the most important one:
<i>"While it would seem that misperceptions are derived from a failure to pay attention to the news, in fact, overall, those who pay greater attention to the news are no less likely to have misperceptions. Among those who primarily watch Fox, those who pay more attention are more likely to have misperceptions."</i>
Do you think then it is safe to watch Fox news ever again? Do you agree that Fox is directly responsible for vast public misperception? Why would a media outlet have any need to mislead their viewers? What is NPR/PBS doing right that Fox and the rest are doing wrong?
Here is the first PDF report: <a href='http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Iraq/Nov_13_03_iraq_report.pdf' target='_blank'>Report of Findings</a> and here is the more terse press release: <a href='http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Iraq/Nov_13_03_iraq_press.pdf' target='_blank'>Press Release</a>
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Majority Believes US Acted on Incorrect Assumptions in Rush to War
Does Not Believe Evidence on Iraqi WMD, Al Qaeda Links, Human Rights,
Met Proper Standards for Going to War
Believes Bush Was Determined to Go to War Irrespective of Evidence
No Clear Consensus For or Against Decision to Go To War
Support for Iraq Reconstruction Undaunted
For Release: Nov. 13, 2003, 12:15 pm Contact: Steven Kull (202) 232-7500
College Park, MD: According to a new PIPA-Knowledge Networks poll, a majority of
Americans (55%) believe that the Bush administration went to war on the basis of
incorrect assumptions. An overwhelming 87% said that, before the war, the Bush
administration portrayed Iraq as an imminent threat, while a majority (58%) believes that
the administration did not have evidence for this and only 42% believe that it was the
case. A majority believes that the US went to war precipitously, with 61% saying that the
US should have taken more time to find out if Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and
59% saying it should have taken more time to build international support.
A majority of Americans believe that the evidence that the US had on Iraq did not meet
the proper international standards for going to war without UN approval. While most
believe that countries have the right to go to war if they have evidence they are in
imminent danger of being attacked with WMD, only a minority also believes that the US
had such evidence (32%) or, given what is known now, that Iraq in fact posed such a
threat (35%). A majority (53%) believes the US had evidence that Iraq was acquiring
WMD that could be used against it at some point in the future, but only 31% said such
evidence legitimates going to war.
A strong majority (67%) believes that countries have the right to overthrow governments,
without UN approval, if they have strong evidence that the government is providing
substantial support to a terrorist group that has attacked them. However only 38% both
believe this and think the US had strong evidence that Iraq was providing substantial
support to al-Qaeda.
Most Americans believe President Bush was determined to go to war irrespective of the
evidence. If US intelligence services had told the president there was no reliable evidence
that Iraq possessed or was building weapons of mass destruction or was providing
substantial support to al-Qaeda, 63% said he would still have gone to war.
Majorities are questioning the president’s veracity. Only 42% said that the president is
honest and frank, while 56% said they have doubts about things he says. Seventy-two
percent (up from 63% in July) said that when the administration presented evidence of
Iraqi WMD to justify going to war, it was either presenting evidence it knew was false
(21%) or stretching the truth (51%).
This shift may be related to a sharp drop in the misperception that the US has found
WMD in Iraq from 24% in September to 15% now, perhaps in response to the interim
report by David Kay, head of the Iraq Survey Group.
Growing doubts about the president’s veracity may help explain a 12-point jump in the
percentage saying that the president’s handling of Iraq has decreased their likelihood to
vote for him. This number has jumped from 30% in PIPA/KN’s August-September poll
to 42% in the current poll, and is now higher than the 35% who say that his handling of
Iraq has increased their likelihood of voting for him (no effect: 21%).
A majority also does not believe that the US had the right to go to war based on Iraq’s
human rights record. Only 27% think that countries have the right, without UN approval,
to overthrow another government that is committing substantial violations of its citizens’
human rights. A majority supports intervention if the violations are large-scale, extreme
and equivalent to genocide, but only 32% both believe this and think Iraq was
committing this level of human rights violations. An additional 12% saw intervention
justified on the basis of substantial violations alone, and believed that only this standard
was met.
Despite these doubts, only 38% take the position that going to war was the wrong
decision. Forty-two percent say the war was the best thing for the US and another 15%
support the war so as to support the president, though they are not sure if it was the best
thing to do. Sustaining this support is the belief that Iraq did have a WMD program
(71%) and was providing support to al-Qaeda (67%).
Steven Kull, director of PIPA comments, “The majority’s views about the decision to go
to war are nuanced. It believes there were legitimate concerns that prompted the
decision, while at the same time it believes the threat was not imminent and the decision
was taken precipitously, without proper international support.”
The public shows little enthusiasm for the administration’s handling of the postwar
reconstruction. Sixty-six percent said that the administration’s planning for postwar Iraq
was poor. Only 27% think that the number of terrorists in Iraq is lower than it was before
the war, while 35% think it higher and 35% think it is about the same.
Nonetheless, support for continuing the operation in Iraq is undaunted. Only a very small
minority (15%) favor withdrawing US troops. An overwhelming majority (77%)
continues to think the US has the responsibility to remain in Iraq until there is a stable
government. When asked how long US troops will need to be in Iraq, the median
estimate is three years—up from two years in earlier polls.
The poll did not find evidence to support the Bush administration’s complaint that the
media is overplaying the bad news in Iraq. The public did not appear to have an
exaggerated idea of how badly things are going in Iraq. The median respondent sharply
underestimated the number of attacks on US troops, only slightly overestimated the
number of US troops fatalities since the end of the war. Most assume that the majority of
the Iraqi people are glad that the US overthrew Saddam Hussein and want the US to stay
a while longer.
The PIPA/KN poll was conducted with a nationwide sample of 1,008 respondents
October 29-November 10. The margin of error was plus or minus 3-4.5%, depending on
whether the question was administered to the whole sample, three quarters or half of the
sample.
The poll was fielded by Knowledge Networks using its nationwide panel, which is
randomly selected from the entire adult population and subsequently provided internet
access. For more information about this methodology, go to
www.knowledgenetworks.com/ganp.
Funding for this research was provided by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Ford
Foundation.
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This second study done by PIPA is a little more scary. First the full PDF version: <a href='http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Iraq/Media_10_02_03_Report.pdf' target='_blank'>MISPERCEPTIONS, THE MEDIA AND THE IRAQ WAR</a> and now the terse press release: <a href='http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Iraq/Media_10_02_03_Press.pdf' target='_blank'>Study Finds Widespread Misperceptions on Iraq Highly Related to Support for War</a>
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->
Study Finds Widespread Misperceptions on Iraq
Highly Related to Support for War
Misperceptions Vary Widely Depending on News Source
Fox Viewers More Likely to Misperceive, PBS-NPR Less Likely
For release: 12 Noon, October 2, 2003 Contact: Steven Kull 202-232-7500
College Park, MD: A new study based on a series of seven nationwide polls conducted
from January through September of this year reveals that before and after the Iraq war, a
majority of Americans have had significant misperceptions and these are highly related to
support for the war with Iraq.
The polling, conducted by the Program on International Policy (PIPA) at the University
of Maryland and Knowledge Networks, also reveals that the frequency of these
misperceptions varies significantly according to individuals’ primary source of news.
Those who primarily watch Fox News are significantly more likely to have
misperceptions, while those who primarily listen to NPR or watch PBS are significantly
less likely.
An in-depth analysis of a series of polls conducted June through September found 48%
incorrectly believed that evidence of links between Iraq and al Qaeda have been found,
22% that weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq, and 25% that world
public opinion favored the US going to war with Iraq. Overall 60% had at least one of
these three misperceptions.
Such misperceptions are highly related to support for the war. Among those with none of
the misperceptions listed above, only 23% support the war. Among those with one of
these misperceptions, 53% support the war, rising to 78% for those who have two of the
misperceptions, and to 86% for those with all 3 misperceptions. Steven Kull, director of
PIPA, comments, “While we cannot assert that these misperceptions created the support
for going to war with Iraq, it does appear likely that support for the war would be
substantially lower if fewer members of the public had these misperceptions.”
The frequency of Americans’ misperceptions varies significantly depending on their
source of news. The percentage of respondents who had at least one or more of the three
misperceptions listed above is shown below.
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--c1--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>CODE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='CODE'><!--ec1-->
FOX CBS ABC NBC CNN Print Sources NPR/PBS
None of the 3 20% 30% 39% 45% 45% 53% 77%
1 or more 80 71 61 55 55 47 23
<!--c2--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--ec2-->
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->
Variations in misperceptions according to news source cannot simply be explained as a
result of differences in the demographics of each audience, because these variations can
also be found when comparing the rate of misperceptions within demographic subgroups
of each audience.
Another key perception—one that US intelligence agencies regard as unfounded—is that
Iraq was directly involved in September 11. Before the war approximately one in five
believed this and 13% even said they believed that they had seen conclusive evidence of
it. Polled June through September, the percentage saying that Iraq was directly involved
in 9/11 continued to be in the 20-25% range, while another 33-36% said they believed
that Iraq gave al-Qaeda substantial support. [Note: An August Washington Post poll
found that 69% thought it was at least “somewhat likely” that Saddam Hussein was
personally involved in 9/11—a different question than the PIPA/KN question that asked
respondents to come to a conclusion.
In the run-up to the war misperceptions were also highly related to support for going to
war. In February, among those who believed that Iraq was directly involved in
September 11, 58% said they would agree with the President’s decision to go to war
without UN approval. Among those who believed that Iraq had given al Qaeda
substantial support, but was not involved in September 11, approval dropped to 37%.
Among those who believed that a few al Qaeda individuals had contact with Iraqi
officials 32% were supportive, while among those who believed that there was no
connection at all just 25% felt that way. Polled during the war, among those who
incorrectly believed that world public opinion favored going to the war, 81% agreed with
the President’s decision to do so, while among those who knew that the world public
opinion was opposed only 28% agreed.
While it would seem that misperceptions are derived from a failure to pay attention to the
news, in fact, overall, those who pay greater attention to the news are no less likely to
have misperceptions. Among those who primarily watch Fox, those who pay more
attention are more likely to have misperceptions. Only those who mostly get their news
from print media have fewer misperceptions as they pay more attention.
The level of misperceptions varies according to Americans’ political positions.
Supporters of President Bush and Republicans are more likely to have misperceptions.
However, misperceptions do not appear to only be the result of bias, because a significant
number of people who do not have such political positions also have misperceptions.
For the entire study of seven polls the total sample was 9,611 respondents, and for the indepth
analysis for the polls conducted June through September the sample was 3,334
respondents. The polls were fielded by Knowledge Networks using its nationwide panel,
which is randomly selected from the entire adult population and subsequently provided
internet access. For more information about this methodology, go to
www.knowledgenetworks.com/ganp. Funding for this research was provided by the
Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Ford Foundation.
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I know that's really long, but I figured if I just linked to the sites it wouldn't be enough to get people to read them. What's really interesting to me is the dramatic difference of perception between viewers of Fox and those who view/listen to PBS/NPR. 80% of people watching Fox had one or more of the misperceptions, while only 23% of those watching PBS and NPR had those same misperceptions. This conclusion seems to be the most important one:
<i>"While it would seem that misperceptions are derived from a failure to pay attention to the news, in fact, overall, those who pay greater attention to the news are no less likely to have misperceptions. Among those who primarily watch Fox, those who pay more attention are more likely to have misperceptions."</i>
Do you think then it is safe to watch Fox news ever again? Do you agree that Fox is directly responsible for vast public misperception? Why would a media outlet have any need to mislead their viewers? What is NPR/PBS doing right that Fox and the rest are doing wrong?
Comments
yup, well, there you have it folks.
<i>proof</i> of fox (and others) total lack of respect for actual reality.
(the amount of times the proclaimed 'weapons found!' only to retract the same story days later at a mumch lower volume, makes you wonder why people still watch them at all)
hopefully people will spot the link between the war, the administration, and the propaganda(!) and NEVER listen to what those foolish people have to say again.
*laugh*
what do you use? the presenters nervous twitch? the 'givaway look in his eyes' as he tells another lie?
perhaps a sixth sense which lets you know the 'real truth of the matter'.
the point is, no matter how intelligent, or informed you think you are, its practically impossible to tell fact from fiction when both are presented in <i> exactly the same manner </i>.
<!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yeah I wasn't sure if this had made it around these boards or not. The first report was released just yesterday, so I figured that must be new to someone.
But to be honest, I <i>really like</i> NPR. Sure, most of the people calling in are raging leftists, but the guests and commentators that they have on (especially in panel discussions) are usually intelligent, and represent a broad spectrum of philosophies.
I suppose that while they may be leftists, at least they're "right." (pun intended)
Yes, exactly.
including the above, which has a strong bias against everything
including the above, which has a strong bias towards everything
including the above...