Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Watching Fox News Could Kill You.


Fox News is the number one cable news network.  While its prime time audience of 2.9 million viewers pales in comparison to major network shows (Big Bang draws 18.5 million) it is still a very impressive number.  (Caruso, 2020)

So I was horrified to read that a 2012 study by Fairleigh Dickinson University found that those who watch Fox News regularly are less well informed than people who watch no news at all.  Even those who get their news from comedy shows like The Daily Show knew more about current events than Fox viewers.  Yikes.

But here's the really scary part.  Misinformation can be dangerous. 

During the 2009-2010 swine flu epidemic, Democrats and Republicans initially expressed equal levels of concern.  But then the folks at Fox started in with their conspiracy theories.  Glen Beck even told his followers to do the exact opposite of what the administration recommended and skip the flu shot.  (Kristof, 2019)

As a result of this misleading propaganda, Democrats were 50% more likely to seek vaccinations than Republicans.

18,000 people died. 

So yes, where you get your news from could be a matter of life or death.


Caruso, J. (2020, January 28)  Fox News Primetime Ratings For January 2020 Highest Since November 2016.  dailycaller.com.  Retrieved January 29, 2020, from

Cassino, D., Woolley, P., Jenkins, K. (2012, May 3)  What you know depends on what you watch: Current events knowledge across popular news sources.  fdu.edu Retrieved January 29, 2020, from

Kristof, N. (2019, November 16)  Fox News? More Like Trump's Impeachment Shield. nytimes.com.  Retrieved January 29, 2020, from  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/16/opinion/sunday/fox-news-donald-trump.html

1 comment:

Tim Baynes Art said...

Well, here in London with BBC, who is again, shaking with fear that its funding is under threat, commentators are saying that if the BBC disappears we are going to get Fox News.

As and elderly but energetic liberal, we have always known since way back when that Fox is a rabid news outlet, but hey, look at our respective country leaders to appreciate the reason why! Fox is the certainty of neo-extremism in media.