1/17/2015

Fox News Viewers Are More Informed Than The Left Wants To Believe

I am constantly amazed at the obsession the Left has with Fox News. Despite their claims that it is thoroughly biased and close-minded, more than few on the Left have made the observation that Fox does air contrary views while the balance of the MSM does not.

But that the Left decries Fox's 'bias' proves that more than a few of them are watching it, unlike CNN and MSNBC.

Kevin Williamson delves into this issue, deconstructing a PunditFact 'study' that was neither a study or in anyway unbiased and the many Alternet claims about Fox's viewers and just how stupid they are to believe a number of “outrageous” things that they believe are in error. However Alternet's beliefs are themselves proven to be in error. Here are a few Williamson mentions.

91% believe that the stimulus legislation lost jobs. [Some highly credentialed academic economists believe exactly that; economists at large remain sharply divided on the effect of the stimulus.]

72% believe that the health reform law will increase the deficit. [It almost certainly will, if you believe the Congressional Budget Office and the (ho, ho!) Government Accountability Office. Here, Fox News viewers were hardly alone: The majority of respondents answered the same way.]

49% believe that income taxes have gone up. [They have -- the top rate in 2009 was 35 percent; it’s now 39.6. Assuming that 39.6 percent is still more than 35 percent, 49 percent of Fox News viewers are bulletproof here; one wonders why the number isn’t higher.]

Williamson goes on to show how poorly Alternet interpreted the study they cite as proof that “Fox News makes you stupid,” attributing much of it to confirmation bias, meaning they ignored anything that disagreed with their beliefs.

No surprise there.