Article: We report, you get it wrong

dahamsta

There's not a whole lot to say about this really, bar "I can't believe this is still happening". I was under the impression that US media was getting a little more skeptical and questioning about the Bush administration and their handling of the "war", and that this was feeding down to the population, but it seems I was mistaken.

We report, you get it wrong
By Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON - The more commercial television news you watch, the more wrong you are likely to be about key elements of the Iraq War and its aftermath, according to a major new study released in Washington on Thursday.

And the more you watch the Rupert Murdoch-owned Fox News channel, in particular, the more likely it is that your perceptions about the war are wrong, adds the report by the University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA).

Based on several nationwide surveys it conducted with California-based Knowledge Networks since June, as well as the results of other polls, PIPA found that 48 percent of the public believe US troops found evidence of close pre-war links between Iraq and the al-Qaeda terrorist group; 22 percent thought troops found weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq; and 25 percent believed that world public opinion favored Washington's going to war with Iraq. All three are misperceptions.

The report, Misperceptions, the Media and the Iraq War, also found that the more misperceptions held by the respondent, the more likely it was that s/he both supported the war and depended on commercial television for news about it.

The study is likely to stoke a growing public and professional debate over why mainstream news media - especially the broadcast media - were not more skeptical about the Bush administration's pre-war claims, particularly regarding Saddam Hussein's WMD stockpiles and ties with al-Qaeda.

[...]

shotamoose

I like the bit later in the article when someone says "This is a dangerously revealing study". They might have added, "Good thing it won't get reported on TV".

Weirdly, Americans seem to have become even more wrong about the war over the summer:

Surprisingly, the percentage of people holding the misperceptions rose slightly over the last three months. In July, for example, polls found that 45 percent of the public believed US forces had found "clear evidence in Iraq that Hussein was working closely with al-Qaeda". In September, 49 percent believed that.

Likewise, those who believed troops had found WMD in Iraq jumped from 21 percent in July to 24 percent in September. One in five respondents said they believed that Iraq had actually used chemical or biological weapons during the war.

I dunno, maybe Americans are just becoming too stupid to be trusted with anything important. Next time they suggest invading somewhere, I say we strongly express our disagreement until they back down.

Other interesting findings are that stupid Americans, as defined in the study, are more likely to be Republican supporters and to intend to vote for Bush in 2004.

sovtek

Originally posted by shotamoose
I like the bit later in the article when someone says "This is a dangerously revealing study". They might have added, "Good thing it won't get reported on TV".

Weirdly, Americans seem to have become even more wrong about the war over the summer:



I dunno, maybe Americans are just becoming too stupid to be trusted with anything important. Next time they suggest invading somewhere, I say we strongly express our disagreement until they back down.

Other interesting findings are that stupid Americans, as defined in the study, are more likely to be Republican supporters and to intend to vote for Bush in 2004.

A blanket statement like that needs a bit of qualification IMHO.
I'm all for criticising the American government and where it's due on the general population.
I'm American and I consider myself to be of average intellect.
The poll suggests to me, as well as my own personal experience, that Americans are generally ignorant. I think there is a distinction between stupidity and ignorance.

TomF

It really makes me wonder what passes for education in this country when people can post results of polls taken by some organisation when those results fit said people's preconceptions, and expect those of us who paid attention in class/life not to dismiss most polls as simple column filler for newspapers or make-work for graduate students.

Let's consider this poll result found by the same organisation (admittedly a poll taken in 1995, but if we scout around we can probably find a more recent one that would look about the same):

"As it has in past polls, the American public continues to show its strong support for U.N. peacekeeping. More than two thirds favor the idea of U.N. peace operations and more Americans hold a favorable attitude toward the U.N. than they do toward Congress or the Courts. Americans also strongly support multinational approaches to conflcit and disagree that the U.S. should "go it alone" when there is a crisis requiring military intervention. A large majority feel that in general, the U.S. should cooperate with the United Nations."

University of Maryland Program on International Policy Attitudes April 1995.

http://www.clw.org/pub/clw/un/unpolls.html

mike65

Conclusion - Amercians will think what they are told to think.

The same can be said for most of us of course...nothing else can explain FF being in power for so long or Gerry Adams being fated like a peace loving hero.

Mike.

shotamoose

Originally posted by sovtek
A blanket statement like that needs a bit of qualification IMHO.
I'm all for criticising the American government and where it's due on the general population.
I'm American and I consider myself to be of average intellect.
The poll suggests to me, as well as my own personal experience, that Americans are generally ignorant. I think there is a distinction between stupidity and ignorance.

I wasn't being entirely serious, to be honest - just found the concept of a study that strongly correlated ignorance with watching Fox quite hilarious. I don't actually think all Americans are stupid, or that the Irish or anyone else are much better.