[Media-watch] FW: Fox News and the war

[David Miller {FMS}]

______________________________________________________________________

Program on International Policy Attitudes

  *Study Finds Direct Link Between Misinformation and Public
Misconception*

  Thursday 02 October 2003



    */Study Finds Widespread Misperceptions on Iraq Highly Related to
    Support for War Misperceptions Vary Widely Depending on News Source
    Fox Viewers More Likely to Misperceive, PBS-NPR Less Likely/*

  A new study based on a series of seven nationwide polls conducted from
January through September of this year reveals that before and after the
Iraq war, a majority of Americans have had significant misperceptions
and these are highly related to support for the war with Iraq.

  The polling, conducted by the Program on International Policy (PIPA)
at the University of Maryland and Knowledge Networks, also reveals that
the frequency of these misperceptions varies significantly according to
individuals' primary source of news. Those who primarily watch Fox News
are significantly more likely to have misperceptions, while those who
primarily listen to NPR or watch PBS are significantly less likely.

  An in-depth analysis of a series of polls conducted June through
September found 48% incorrectly believed that evidence of links between
Iraq and al Qaeda have been found, 22% that weapons of mass destruction
have been found in Iraq, and 25% that world public opinion favored the
US going to war with Iraq. Overall 60% had at least one of these three
misperceptions.

  Such misperceptions are highly related to support for the war. Among
those with none of the misperceptions listed above, only 23% support the
war. Among those with one of these misperceptions, 53% support the war,
rising to 78% for those who have two of the misperceptions, and to 86%
for those with all 3 misperceptions. Steven Kull, director of PIPA,
comments, "While we cannot assert that these misperceptions created the
support for going to war with Iraq, it does appear likely that support
for the war would be substantially lower if fewer members of the public
had these misperceptions."

  The frequency of Americans' misperceptions varies significantly
depending on their source of news. The percentage of respondents who had
at least one or more of the three misperceptions listed above is shown
below.





FOX



CBS



ABC



NBC



CNN



Print
Sources



NPR/
PBS

None of the 3



20%



30%



39%



45%



45%



53%



77%

1 or more
misperceptions



80



71



61



55



55



47



23

  Variations in misperceptions according to news source cannot simply be
explained as a result of differences in the demographics of each
audience, because these variations can also be found when comparing the
rate of misperceptions within demographic subgroups of each audience.

  Another key perception -- one that US intelligence agencies regard as
unfounded -- is that Iraq was directly involved in September 11. Before
the war approximately one in five believed this and 13% even said they
believed that they had seen conclusive evidence of it. Polled June
through September, the percentage saying that Iraq was directly involved
in 9/11 continued to be in the 20-25% range, while another 33-36% said
they believed that Iraq gave al-Qaeda substantial support. [Note: An
August Washington Post poll found that 69% thought it was at least
"somewhat likely" that Saddam Hussein was personally involved in 9/11 --
a different question than the PIPA/KN question that asked respondents to
come to a conclusion.]

  In the run-up to the war misperceptions were also highly related to
support for going to war. In February, among those who believed that
Iraq was directly involved in September 11, 58% said they would agree
with the President's decision to go to war without UN approval. Among
those who believed that Iraq had given al Qaeda substantial support, but
was not involved in September 11, approval dropped to 37%. Among those
who believed that a few al Qaeda individuals had contact with Iraqi
officials 32% were supportive, while among those who believed that there
was no connection at all just 25% felt that way. Polled during the war,
among those who incorrectly believed that world public opinion favored
going to the war, 81% agreed with the President's decision to do so,
while among those who knew that the world public opinion was opposed
only 28% agreed.

  While it would seem that misperceptions are derived from a failure to
pay attention to the news, in fact, overall, those who pay greater
attention to the news are no less likely to have misperceptions. Among
those who primarily watch Fox, those who pay more attention are more
likely to have misperceptions. Only those who mostly get their news from
print media have fewer misperceptions as they pay more attention.

  The level of misperceptions varies according to Americans' political
positions. Supporters of President Bush and Republicans are more likely
to have misperceptions. However, misperceptions do not appear to only be
the result of bias, because a significant number of people who do not
have such political positions also have misperceptions.

  For the entire study of seven polls the total sample was 9,611
respondents, and for the in-depth analysis for the polls conducted June
through September the sample was 3,334 respondents. The polls were
fielded by Knowledge Networks using its nationwide panel, which is
randomly selected from the entire adult population and subsequently
provided internet access.

  -------

  Program on International Policy Attitudes
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Suite 510 Washington DC 20036

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Andrew Herod
Professor
Department of Geography
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602, USA

Ph:  + 1 706 542 2856 (main)
     + 1 706 542 2366 (direct)

Fax: + 1 706 542 2388

www.ggy.uga.edu/people/faculty/aherod