originally published in current, oct. 20, 2003 by mike janssen
misperceptions
what percent of audience members held one or more of three misperceptions about the war? (source: program on international policy attitudes.)
fox 80%
cbs 71%
abc 61%
nbc 55%
cnn 55%
print media 47%
pbs/npr 23%
pubcasters welcomed a study released oct. 2 [2003] that showed people who turn to public broadcasting for news have the most accurate views of the iraq war among media consumers.
the study, conducted by the polling firm knowledge networks and the university of marylandã•s program on international policy attitudes, also highlighted differences between public broadcasting and its competitors. fox news channel and public broadcasting, for example, consistently landed at opposite ends of the spectrum of opinion. fox viewers were almost four times more likely than public broadcastingã•s consumers to hold misperceptions about the war (chart at right).
conservative talk show host rush limbaugh seized on the study as a chance to mock npr and pbs oct. 8, the same day an irate bill oã•reilly walked off nprã•s fresh air [story]. oã•reilly later told the philadelphia inquirer that he took a beating on fresh air because npr and the ã’far leftã“ are waging a ã’jihadã“ against fox.
pubcasters commenting on the study refrained from returning the culture-war volleys, though observers noted that the poll does bring out the contrasts between foxã•s brand of journalism and public broadcastingã•s reporting.
ã’what it says is that youã•ve got, for lack of better term, a more objective mediaã“ in public broadcasting, said susan moeller, a media professor at the university of maryland. ã’itã•s having more voices being heard, and so the listening public or viewing public is coming away from the newscast with the impression that thereã•s not just one way of looking at something.ã“
others said misperceptions might stem in part from viewers choosing media that tends to reinforce their beliefs.
fox news declined a request for interview.
not just ideology
the study found that two-thirds of about 3,000 respondents held at least one of three misperceptions:
iraq was involved in the sept. 11 terrorist attacks or proven to be supporting al-qaeda; weapons of mass destruction had been found in iraq; and international popular opinion favored the u.s. war against iraq.
bush administration officials suggested that an iraqi official met with al-qaeda, but their claim has not been proven and was discredited by the u.s. intelligence community. no weapons of mass destruction have been found, and polls have shown that people in many countries opposed the united states going to war against iraq without united nations backing.
the study then broke down respondents by their primary news sources.
public broadcastingã•s consumers consistently were the best informed, while fox viewers were most likely to misperceive.
education and political affiliation fail to account wholly for the differences. republican fox viewers, for example, were still more likely to hold misperceptions than republican npr and pbs subscribers.
further, ã’48 percent of democrat supporters who watch fox news thought the u.s. has found evidence of a direct link to al-qaeda, but not one single respondent who is a democrat supporter and relies on pbs and npr for network news thought the u.s. had found such evidence,ã“ the study said.
after fox viewers, cbs viewers were the most likely to hold misperceptions, yet cbs is more often accused of liberal, not conservative bias, noted steven kull, pipaã•s director and the studyã•s principal investigator.
ideology may still play a part, said mike clark, reader advocate at the florida times-union in jacksonville, fla. ã’people are gravitating to news sources that they personally agree with, so that they may never come in contact with info that might challenge their assumptions,ã“ he said.
ã’itã•s possible that itã•s just somehow driven by networks presenting i