The Second Year in a Row Foxnews Viewers Most Misinformed

A year ago, some overeducated eggheads at some Elitists University cooked up some study using books and found that Foxnews viewers were the most systematically misinformed people in the country.  I don't know where Farleigh Dickinson College is, but it is a safe bet that it ain't in Alabama. It is probably on the coast line where the most elitist universities tend to be found. 

This year these so-called Researchers did another study and guess what? The same result [pdf].

 the study concludes that media sources have a significant impact on the number of questions that people were able to answer correctly. The largest effect is that of Fox News: all else being equal, someone who watched only Fox News would be expected to answer just 1.04 domestic questions correctly — a figure which is  significantly worse than if they had reported watching no media at all. On the other hand, if they listened only to NPR, they would be expected to answer 1.51 questions  correctly; viewers of Sunday morning talk shows fare similarly well.  And people watching only The Daily Show with Jon Stewart could answer about 1.42 questions correctly

Foxnews came in dead last. 

It is safe to say that it is a defective product. The more you use it, the more confused you get.  And you don't have to misuse it to become confused. You can become miserably confused just by following the recommended dosing instructions. It really is a product liability suit waiting to happen.

As such, it should at least come with a warning label like the warning on a lawn mower depicting what would happen if one were to place his foot under the lawn mower.  Hint: don't do it because it will hurt. That is the kind of warning the should be shown during Foxnews programing. 

At one level you want to make fun of the Foxnews viewer.  They are stupid. They are rubes. They are this or that.  But is it fair for the average news viewer to have a full grasp of the complexities of the US Health Care system or the intricacies of monetary policy so that they can tell the difference between partisan slant (i.e., lies) and factual reporting?  

I don't think it is. These are very difficult subjects to understand and people do not have the time apart from work, family and survival to learn the subject matter's finer points. That is why they are watching the news.  In this regard the Foxnews viewer is a product of his/her environment and is accordingly corrupted by eternal stimuli, such as the bullshit found on the Foxnews.  This is why a warning label is crucial and should be mandatory on all Foxnews programming. 

For example: 

WARNING----Foxnews is Not Actually News---It is Just Bullshit.

WARNING ---- the Foxnews Program you are about to watch may contain material misstatements, errors or other factual inaccuracies.  Watch this program at your own risk.  Foxnews assumes no liability for the content of this program.

WARNING --- Daily consumption Foxnews has been shown to cause adverse health effects such as confusion, bewilderment, excessive rage and a systematically misinformed world view.  Experts urge viewers to limit consumption of Foxnews to once a week. 

These are just suggestions.  In a perfect world, Foxnews would be shut down as a public nuisance. It is not a perfect world however and a Product Liability suit, a class action suit on the legions of systematically misinformed viewers may be the best we can accomplish.