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Apparently Fox News viewers are less informed than folks who watch/listen to no news at all!
I have a hypothesis about this. People who are hardcore partisans are more concerned about maintaining their delusions about the the world than actually learning. I am observing it in this election. The GOP partisans absolutely refuse to believe that Obama is ahead, because of his electoral vote advantage. They keep cherrypicking polls,etc., because they just cannot admit they could lose. No one is saying it is a slam dunk, but it is clear that Obama did the groundwork, and he has an easier path to 270.
Anyhow, I am not saying that Fox News has no information of value, but that it fosters strong partisanship, which leads to delusional thinking and ultimately to being misinformed and dead wrong.
I posted this in another thread, but its more pertinent to be here.
I love the persisting idea among its viewers that Fox is some sort of underground rebel network, a subversive trumpeting above the "liberal establishment." New Yorkers are especially wise to this bull, since Fox Headquarters is right across the street from NBC smack dab in the middle of Midtown in the center of America's broadcasting hub, the most concentrated media wing of the country. It's in what is more or less the center of the western world. It's also owned by News corp, i.e. Rupert Murdoch, part of the largest media conglomerate in the world. If that's not mainstream, I don't know what is.
Apparently Fox News viewers are less informed than folks who watch/listen to no news at all!
I have a hypothesis about this. People who are hardcore partisans are more concerned about maintaining their delusions about the the world than actually learning. I am observing it in this election. The GOP partisans absolutely refuse to believe that Obama is ahead, because of his electoral vote advantage. They keep cherrypicking polls,etc., because they just cannot admit they could lose. No one is saying it is a slam dunk, but it is clear that Obama did the groundwork, and he has an easier path to 270.
Anyhow, I am not saying that Fox News has no information of value, but that it fosters strong partisanship, which leads to delusional thinking and ultimately to being misinformed and dead wrong.
They have Fox viewers so brainwashed that they will respond that all other media is biased including NPR. They typically ignore the facts or attack the messenger. This is the only way they can deal with the truth.
I used to watch msnbc. But they're just as bad if not worse than Fox.
Why don't you watch C-Span and get the real truth.
Problem solved.
They hold the other wing of the ideological spectrum and are definitely biased, but Fox takes it into a new dimension. I scoff at MSNBC, but I stand with jaw agape in regards to what is said on Fox.
I posted this in another thread, but its more pertinent to be here.
I love the persisting idea among its viewers that Fox is some sort of underground rebel network, a subversive trumpeting above the "liberal establishment." New Yorkers are especially wise to this bull, since Fox Headquarters is right across the street from NBC smack dab in the middle of Midtown in the center of America's broadcasting hub, the most concentrated media wing of the country. It's in what is more or less the center of the western world. It's also owned by News corp, i.e. Rupert Murdoch, part of the largest media conglomerate in the world. If that's not mainstream, I don't know what is.
Sure, it is as mainstream corporate as it could be.
However, I am excited about the hypothesis that partisan media feeds delusion. I think that might explain a lot of what I read here. This is not a right wing thing exclusively, but folks who grasp for ideology first, of whatever stripe, tend to filter facts to support their ideology, and are reluctant to let go of ideas that are obviously wrong, if they don't fit the ideology. The net result is persistent delusional thinking.
I am not sure that that is the intent of Fox News, so much as that they know that delusional people are addicted to self-affirming narratives and it is addicting to feel right, without ever having to learn from your mistakes like the rest of us.
Apparently Fox News viewers are less informed than folks who watch/listen to no news at all!
I have a hypothesis about this. People who are hardcore partisans are more concerned about maintaining their delusions about the the world than actually learning. I am observing it in this election. The GOP partisans absolutely refuse to believe that Obama is ahead, because of his electoral vote advantage. They keep cherrypicking polls,etc., because they just cannot admit they could lose. No one is saying it is a slam dunk, but it is clear that Obama did the groundwork, and he has an easier path to 270.
Anyhow, I am not saying that Fox News has no information of value, but that it fosters strong partisanship, which leads to delusional thinking and ultimately to being misinformed and dead wrong.
They do worse than merely under informing their viewers, they deliberately misinform them. This whole Libya tragedy is an excellent case in point. Fox has hammered away at this for days with conjecture and innuendo and unfounded accusations aimed at the president until their audience comes to believe there is some massive scandal and cover up where none exists. We've seen the results of this distortion of facts reflected in posts on these boards for days.
Fox is not news, it's a right wing propaganda station with an agenda.
Last edited by HeyJude514; 10-26-2012 at 10:57 PM..
Well, an example might be to know that Iran does not go to the sea through Syria. To know basic geography, history, and math might also be starters for a voter.
What is interesting to me, from my many interactions with right wingers here, is that they are convinced that the "Texas model", a southern, socially-conservative, right-to-work, deregulated state is the greatest possible social and economic model, but most can name no other country that has ever made their ideas work. And that does not bother them at all. The South has it all figured out. Period. So shut up. No outside validation is ever needed. Yet if you look at the intellectual history of just the USA,objectively, the South has never been very impressive. Why should we follow their lead? It is about believing your own mythology more than actually knowing about the world around us, or even the history behind us. Fox News knows this, and playing to the mythology is what they do best. The problem is, by stroking folks egos, they are doing them a disservice.
I would add that the politically correct and racial studies narratives strike me as doing the same thing. It is never that you are a lazy, deceitful, drugged up mofo, it is the white man holding you down! Journalism should always challenge you, or it is not news.
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