It doesn’t matter which political party Fox News’ viewers belonged to — they were still the most misinformed. So concludes a University of Maryland study called “Misinformation and the 2010 Election,” which found FNC’s audience was most likely to believe in mythology, like most scientists thinking climate change is a hoax, their own income taxes have gone up under Obama, and there’s a strong possibility Obama was not born in the U.S.
Fox News Viewers: Idiots
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Concerned
The lowest level of intelligence is when news agencies bash other news agencies. Was this really news? Haven’t you better things to report on. It’s hard to call republican senators bigots when you appear to be a bigot organization yourself. Coming from a gay man, you just disgusted me!
Greg
To Concerned:
Queerty was not bashing Fox News, just reporting on a study that said people who watch Fox News are as dumb as a box of rocks. And if you are a gay man who watches Fox News, than you just disgusted me.
Daez
@Greg: Hey now, Fox News is an awesome network. Where else can you see uneducated bigoted want to be beauty queens that tear up at the drop of a hat and even Sarah Palin.
Riker
I love Fox News, in the same way that I like Stephen Colbert. They’re good for entertainment, but I wouldn’t depend on them for my news. Anyone who takes Glenn Beck seriously is a twit, but he’s great for a laugh. I don’t think even *he* believes most of what he says.
ILoveDudes
As if Queerty is full of Mensa members.
MTiffany
@Concerned: Concern Troll is Concerned, and an ingorant twatwaffle too. If a survey finds that viewers of Fox ‘News’ are the most misinformed consumers of news (gasp!) and another news outlet reports that fact, that’s just reporting. That it makes Concern Troll unhappy doesn’t make it the lowest level of intelligence. The lowest level of intelligence is Concern Troll thinking that Concern Troll is entitled to disregard facts because Concern Troll doesn’t like them. Boo-fucking-hoo, bitch.
Thom Freeheart
I’m not a Republican, nor do am I a regular viewer of FOX news. However, I hear a lot of misinformation from Olbermann and Maddow. (Maddow even made fun of John Boehner for not knowing that the Preamble “We the People…” was part of the Declaration of Independence, when, in fact, it is part of the Constitution.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy23DBJ4QKk
I suspect that if different questions were asked, a similar study would show that MSNBC viewers are dumber.
The fact is that both networks are in the business of propaganda and cannot be relied on for accuracy. The press is supposed to keep government honest, both Democrats and Republicans. Instead, they’ve decided to take sides with the two major political parties and it all makes for one big clusterfuck of misinformation.
But, of course, it’s fashionable to bash FOX. For me, it’s like the same joke told over and over again – after awhile, i just get tired of hearing it.
gregger
@Thom Freeheart: Dude, Rep Boner said “We hold these truths to be self evident” and that it was the preamble to the Constitution. That is the opening sentence in the Declaration of Independence. Maddow did mis-state that the Constitution doesn’t have a preamble, but Boner was off base again.
ILoveDudes
Thom Freeheart : But if you dare to watch any of the shows on Fox News, you’re not being a good Gay-Gay ! Didn’t you get the Set Of Rules when you joined the gay community?
Dillons
@Thom Freeheart: And we get tired of hearing Fox apologists like you.
The reality is, Fox celebrates being a right wing news channel. They actively pursue bias in their stories. How is that journalism? (And this outdated falacy that the other news channels are all left wing is only true if you are a right wing nut job, because even middle of the road, balanced coverage will seem left-biased to you.)
As well, you reference two editorialists. They spout opinion, just as editorialists on Fox do. They do not purport to be journalists, though I agree their fact checkers should be better educated at times. However, Fox does not only fail to provide accurate information through their editorialists, but through their reporters as well. And this is a massive fail.
ILoveDudes
Dillons : But everybody who watches Fox (depending on which program it is, because they vary) knows it’s supposed to represent more of the Right and traditionalist point of view. Lots of independent-minded folks say to me, “Fox is slanted, but it’s good.” That doesn’t mean we can’t find some sense in some of the varied opinions. We can pick and choose too. I like Bill O’Reilly (though he’s too pro-Obama for me) but despise Sean Hannity. Oly the most gay-ghetto-minded non-thinking reactionary would criticize any gay male who enjoys Fox news.
Thom Freeheart
@Dillons: At no point did I apologize for FOX news.
The only show on FOX that I watch regularly is Red Eye and I find most of the contributors there to be where I think most I and most independents are in America – they are socially libertarian, but fiscally conservative.
Occasionally, I will flip back and forth between MSNBC and FOX at night while I am working and listen to both sides of a topical issue, and although I extremely dislike the politics of Sean Hannity and ( to a lesser degree) Bill O’Reilly, I admire the fact that they are not afraid to have guests on every night to share an opposing opinion – something that Olbermann and Maddow would never dare do.
Thom Freeheart
@ILoveDudes: I once dated a guy who flipped out when he turned on my TV to find that the channel was on FOX. He proceeded to tell me how evil O”Reilly was, although he admitted that he had never actually watched his show.
CJ
It’s unfortunate how much trashing goes on within this website and within these “user” comments. For some reason you have to be a staunch liberal who always votes Democrat in order to “fit in” or be accepted. Or, you have to be madly in love with Rachel Maddow and MSNBC. So much for liberals and gays being open minded, accepting and progressive. More like judgmental, narrow minded and bigoted in many cases.
ILoveDudes
Thom : LOL. That’s typical. So many gay men can’t think. They just react. And they just go along with the “list” of who we-must-like and who we-must-hate. And when O’Reilly says something pro-gay they just…ignore it. Can’t handle it. Does-not-compute. They’ll self-combust. Oh well. The good thing is that younger generations of gay males think for themselves more and more and don’t fall into the cult of gay-ghetto-groupthink.
PatrickB
@Thom Freeheart: Maddow invites righties on to her show, but they decline. Which is funny, because she doesn’t yell over her guests like O’Reilly does.
@ILoveDudes: While Fox is entertaining, people who watch it should end up MORE informed about current events, rather than less. It purports a news channel, after all.
Thom Freeheart
I have many gay and straight friends who get their news solely from MSNBC who think that Obama is pro-gay marriage.
ILoveDudes
PatrickB : I actually have seen a number of interesting news stories, which I haven’t seen elsewhere, on Fox, or at least interesting arguments taking different sides of stories already in the news. O’Reilly has had some of the best gay guests on (except for that horrid Wayne Besen). But I don’t think anybody should ever watch Fox as their sole news source. We should always use a variety of sources. I even think the New York Times is of value, even though they’ve actually been caught making up stories. Everybody should use several news sources but always remember they’ll all be slanted one way or another.
Thom Freeheart
I have found that the reason why so many conservatives don’t understand gays and gay issues is because they don’t know any. I have found that by engaging them in a non-threatening/non-confrontational way and explaining what it is to be gay makes them more acceptive.
tjr101
I use to watch Faux News, well actually only Bill O’Reilly but not anymore. The amount of hate and blatant lies that network spews is beyond my tolerance level. They actively promote xenophobia and homophobia, anything different is demonized and characterized as “un-american.” I won’t be surprised if a poll came out stating that only white men watch Faux, the rest of America is simply not interested.
ILoveDudes
LOL at TJR. Yeah, right. You can’t stand the amount of “hate” on Fox News so you hang out on gay blogs where guys screech about how they want to see others raped in prison or slicing off women’s private parts. Who are you kidding?
tjr101
@ILoveDudes: Is that your lame defense for your love affair with Faux? You can come better than that!
Last I checked Queerty never claimed to be fair and balanced and the commenters are not paid “professionals.”
Thom Freeheart
Everyone here would be more chill if we had our Morning Goods. ; )
ILoveDudes
So THAT’s it ? You agree with David Hauslaib saying Don Imus deserved getting cancer and people talking about cutting others’ genitals off because Queerty and Towleroad and JoeMyGod don’t claim to be impartial ? So it’s not the “hate” that bothers you, it’s just the claim that it’s “fair and balanced”?
tjr101
@ILoveDudes: Are you that dense? Those are blogs not news agencies. And I am referring to their paid commentators whom are also bank rolled by the GOP. But then you must know that. Sorry I don’t share your love affair with Faux.
ILoveDudes
TJR : That’s fine. That’s legit. I disagree with you on much of that, but if you really believe that…. And if you perceive the O’Reilly show as xenephobic and have a problem with that, that’s your prerogative. (Others will disagree that it’s xenophobic. Some, gays included, think xenophobia is fine, anyway). But ….not to put words in your mouth….if you agree that these gay blogs are a silly cesspool of fiction and evil, but Fox News should be held to higher standards, I’ll agree.
tjr101
“Some, gays included, think xenophobia is fine, anyway” So in other words, they like the xenophobia in relation to others but not when it comes to themselves? Interesting!
ILoveDudes
P.S. to Thom Freeheart : One thing that always irked me about that Sean Hannity, the rare times I’ve watched him, is the way he cozies up to those awful Evangelical ministers. Doesn’t he realize how fast they’d probably want to throw his Papist Irish butt out of the country? LOL. (But that’s just my own peeve).
ILoveDudes
That might be, TJR, which could be argued isn’t fair. Though some don’t want anymore “homophobic foreigners” coming into Western society. I guess it’s debatable.
Michael
@ILoveDudes: Your arguments are getting weaker and weaker. So now xenophobia is justified based on a fallacy that all or most of new immigrants are homophobic?
I love when people pretend that both sides of an issue are equally legitimate. They’re not. Being prejudice is not equal to being non-prejudice. It’s really not all that “debatable” as you put it. It’s really just common sense.
Soupy
I’m confused as to why he’s spending so much time on this “cesspool”.
SouthSideShorty
ATTENTION ALL MY FELLOW ‘MOs:
Please be aware that the Left isn’t always right, and the Right isn’t always wrong. If watching FNC makes me a bad homo, then I don’t want to be a good one, so get off your soapboxes and practice a little more tolerance (but, since “tolerance” is just another buzzword that liberals like to preach but not practice, I expect to get plenty of hateful responses to this post).
Soupy
The difference is that the left can admit mistakes, but the right cannot. Just watch Ann Coulter refuse the recognize the refutation of some of her “facts”.
Thom Freeheart
I can still be a good gay who fights for gay marriage, the repeal of DADT, and other equal rights AND for a secure border, less government regulation of business, an aggressive War on Terror, and for entitlement reform.
Soupy
Sure you can. But good luck finding a politician who feels the same way.
Comixbear
And in other news…Rain is wet.
Josh
Not surprised. And to those seeking to equate MSNBC to Fox News, there is one major…MAJOR difference: MSNBC tears into Republican AND Democrat alike for hypocrisy and outright lies to the electorate.
Are they more willing to give a liberal slack than they would a conservative? Sure. But unlike Fox, MSNBC at least has the balls to call out their own party on the things they do wrong.
jacknasty
@SouthSideShorty:
I agree the left isn’t always correct and the right isn’t always wrong. But watching Fox News is always a bad idea if you want actual news, unbiased information and rationally presented facts. I don’t watch Maddow or Olberman for the same reasons. It is the entire 24 hour cable news system that breeds misinformation because it is not possible for viewers to mentally process information as quickly as it is presented to them. It is so easy for any talking head “news” presenter whether it is O’Riley, Olberman, Hannity, Maddow, Larry King, Glen Beck..ect to slip in their opinions as fact or frankly completely make-up or intentionally lie. The speed at which “information” comes at viewer is astounding. As somebody who studies mass communication I can tell you the human brain is not capable of absorbing the information that fast and when it comes that quickly there is no way to separate “good” info from “bad”. They talk so fast, and then there is the graphics, and the “news crawls” at the bottom.
Really the internet is the best source for news because you can read at your own pace, digest the information and then decide whether you believe it or not. If it is a fact you don’t believe you can trace the sources. If it is an opinion piece reading will be more objective than listening because when we listen things like tone of voice or how we feel about the presenter influence us more than what they actually say.
That being said, nobody should ever watch a network that supports somebody as consistently wrong, misleading and overly dramatic as Glen Beck. he truly is the worst thing to happen to rational thought in the past decade.
Thom Freeheart
@Josh: Some MSNBC hosts tear into Dems when they are not liberal enough and, you are incorrect, some FOX hosts tear into the GOP when they are not conservative enough.
Thom Freeheart
@jacknasty: You are correct. Glenn Beck is an idiot.
You are incorrect: Keith Olbermann is as consistently wrong, misleading and overly dramatic as Glen Beck.
adam
@Thom Freeheart: That may happen sometimes, but equating MSNBC or CNN with FOX is truly a false equivalency. There is zero straight news reporting, as evidenced by their leaked memos telling them that global warming is a factual occurrence or even accepted by the majority of the scientific community. That’s only one of their more recent ones known in guiding the news.
MSNBC does have actual news reporting, though CNN is heavier on that. Even Megyn Kelly, while promoted as straight news, is very, very clearly not. I don’t watch network TV news, but I think people who equate the unabashedly partisan sensationalist hyperbole on Fox with other networks is seriously, seriously misinformed of the networks’ shortcomings. Atleast MSNBC is more subtle with it.
adam
@Thom Freeheart: Olbermann doesn’t regularly invite guests on to fabricate history like Beck does with David Barton.
Another false equivalency.
jacknasty
@Thom Freeheart:
Sorry, Glen Beck is far worse that Olbermann, though if you weren’t so busy disgreeing just to disagree you would have noticed that my post was to suggest people stop listening to both Olbermann and Beck, but if you must compare the two Beck is far more likely to make things up, not cite sources and present opinions as fact
Thom Freeheart
@jacknasty: I’m sorry, Jacknasty. I didn’t mean to come across as disagreeing to disagree. That’s why I began my response to you with “You are correct.”
AladinSane
THIS JUST IN! Studies of blog sites reveal people that watch television news are usually misinformed, easy prey for partisan hackery and like to argue!