A University of Maryland study, for example, finds, "Fox News viewers were were 'significantly' more likely than non-viewers to erroneously believe false information about the economy, taxes, climate change, bailouts and whether President Obama was born in the United States.
"These effects increased incrementally with increasing levels of exposure and all were statistically significant. The effect was also not simply a function of partisan bias, as people who voted Democratic and watched Fox News were also more likely to have such misinformation than those who did not watch it."
Meanwhile, a Farleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll found Fox viewers were dramatically less well-informed about specific issues than people who got their news elsewhere, especially NPR, Sunday morning news shows, and "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." In fact, it found that the more cable news people watch--all cable news--the less they seemed to know about the facts.
(Graphic: newshounds.com)
Maybe that's why, to paraphrase Paul Krugman, the Republicans have turned into the party of "fools and clowns." I don't remember that being the case when I was a kid - i.e., prior to Fox News, although of course they aren't solely to blame.
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