Originally Posted By mawnck The famous experiment from last year has been repeated with a larger sample size. Fox viewers got even dumber. MSNBC viewers didn't do much better. The best place to learn about world affairs? NPR, sunday morning talk shows, and Jon Stewart! Be sure to click the link to the PDF report of the study to see all the details, and read the comments on Frum's article, where one of the study organizers responds to a lot of the comments. >>1185 people nationwide were asked about their viewing habits and then asked 4 questions about international affairs and 5 about domestic news. On average, respondents got correct 1.8 of the international questions and 1.6 of the domestic questions. (I know, I know.) People who mainly listened to NPR did somewhat better: an average of 1.92 correct on the domestic section. People who watched no news at all averaged 1.22 domestic questions right. And people who watched only Fox? 1.04. Looks like a trend.<< <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/05/21/fox-news.html" target="_blank">http://www.thedailybeast.com/a...ews.html</a>
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I thought this was interesting (from the comments section, about congresscritters themselves): "The sophistication of federal lawmakers' speech patterns is on the decline, with members of Congress now talking, on average, at the level of high school sophomores. According to a new report by the Sunlight Foundation, Congress has fallen by almost a full grade-level since 2005. The members speaking at the lowest grade levels tend to be freshmen Republicans. ****"Of the 10 members speaking at the lowest grade level, all but two are freshmen, and every one is a Republican." That measurement is for all speeches since 1996.**** "Particularly among the newest members of Congress, as you move out from the center and toward either end of the political spectrum, the grade level goes down, and that pattern is particularly pronounced on the right,"
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 See, and although Jon Stewart is "entertainment news", I do find I learn more from him. Plus, with the absurdity of politics lately, it helps to at least have a laugh...even if the actual stories make you want to bang your head against the wall.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 Wow, Dabob, I hadn't realized there were some statistics to bear that out. I've been kind of wondering about it, especially with all of the freshmen "tea party" members, but it's pretty sad. Personally, I would really like much smarter people than myself running the country. Give me some "elitist" college graduates any day! I don't need to have a beer with them, or be somebody I could hang out with...I want them to have leadership skills and to, you know, do what's right for the country.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Also, from the study. On international questions, the base (no news) was 1.28. People who watched Fox only got 1.08; people who watched MSNBC only got 1.23 (not much lower). And on domestic questions, the base was 1.22. People who watched Fox only got 1.04; people who watched MSNBC only got 1.26, actually a little higher than the base. (I'm assuming that averaging the domestic and international score led to them saying "On the whole, MSNBC, for instance, had no impact on political knowledge one way or the other.") Liberals watching MSNBC scored 1.89 on domestic, the highest number in the study other than NPR watchers.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I suppose that should be "NPR listeners." D'oh! And I didn't even watch Fox today!
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 One thing is for sure, MSNBC is not going to be sending Chris Matthews on Jeopardy anymore.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 Yeah, well, Chris Matthews could stand to have a time out. I really can't stand watching his show. He talks so loudly, and often, right over his guests. He'll ask them a question, then won't let them answer, instead he just yammers on...and on.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan I was watching Fox News one night, and soon I found I couldn't remember my own phone number. I switched over to MSNBC (purely by mistaking the remote control for a burrito and biting down on the channel selection button) and after a few minutes of that, I stuck a fork into an electrical outlet. I awoke in the hospital, and the TV in my room was tuned to PBS. I am now a genius but unfortunately pledged thousands of dollars just to get a set of Victor Borge DVDs.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Yeah, then it's Peter Paul & Mary CD sets, leading to the epic Ken Burns' Foosball: America's Hidden Obsession director's cut and a collection of Dr. Wayne Dyer books.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Still better than the 37-CD set of doo wop I fell for. 14 hours into it I'm thinking "could no one spring for a band?"
