Conservatives Increasingly Tuned Out Everything Except Fox News Between 1998-2006
Conservatives Increasingly Tuned Out Everything Except Fox News Between 1998-2006
A new analysis by University of Georgia associate professor Barry Hollander finds that between 1998 and 2006, Americans became increasingly polarized in their news-gathering habits. After examining five national Pew Center for the People and the Press during that time period, Hollander concluded that the public now lives in “a huge echo chamber of attitudes and ideas.”
The Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Political Insider reports:
In 1998, 27 percent of Republicans and 25 percent of Democrats tuned in regularly to Atlanta-based CNN. Eight years later, the number of Democrats had risen to 29 percent.
But the number of Republicans who tuned in to CNN had shrunk to 19 percent. Gosh, where do you think they went?
Over the same period, Fox News’ share of Republican viewers jumped from 14 to 36 percent.
Hollander also notes that conservatives “dramatically dropped news sources that they perceive as being biased against their position.” Evidently, this included C-SPAN, which also saw a dramatic drop in conservative viewers.
These findings are similar to a Norman Lear Center/Zogby International poll from November 2007, which found that 22 percent of conservatives say they “never” enjoy entertainment that reflects values other than their own, as opposed to just 7 percent of liberals. Fox News was also the “most politically divisive TV channel,” with 70 percent of conservatives and just 3 percent of liberals watching it daily.
But too much Fox News may be bad news for conservatives. An April 2007 Pew Research Study survey found that viewers of the conservative Fox News channel had the lowest knowledge of national and international affairs.
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Conservatives are afraid of the truth - makes them all fearful.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:15 pmFaux, Drugbaugh et al are solely responsible for creating the most ignorant, myopic, and obtuse cohort of “people” in American history. These people coined themselves “conservatives”.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:16 pmAn April 2007 Pew Research Study survey found that viewers of the conservative Fox News channel had the lowest knowledge of national and international affairs.
I think this is deliberate. Dumb people are much easier to con than smart people.
It also reflects why most trolls are dumber than a bag of hair.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:16 pmThat’s because FUX NEWTS is NOT news. It’s opinion and worse, propaganda.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:18 pmI guess this explains why CNN has become the newest ‘Fox in the Henhouse’…don’t want to lose any market share, even if we have to shout, scream or lie to get them viewers back.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:20 pmIt’s amazing to see how the increase in Fox viewership and the deterioration of the country has happened at the same time. However, after eight years of misery, the people now view Fox as devisive propaganda network for the Republicans.
Don’t you think it’s time for the reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrain which was eliminated in 1980 by guess who? thats right Mr. Ragan. And guess who vetoed the reinstatement of the law? that’s right Mr. Bush.
November couldn’t come soon enough.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:21 pm..between 1998 and 2006
What started with an interest in a blow-job became complacency in an ongoing nationwide blow-out.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:21 pmOver the same period, Fox News’ share of Republican viewers jumped from 14 to 36 percent.
Well, they obviously got The Memo.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:24 pmFox = propaganda; Pravda = propaganda; Fox=Pravda. Simple!
Both = fiction …
April 28th, 2008 at 1:24 pmIf you visit a friend or associate and all they watch is Fox News, then you have no friend or associate anymore. You have an enemy of the Consitution and the Bill of Rights. You have someone with a low IQ, and a high degree of inflexibility toward anyone who doesn’t look as they do. You have a person who is genrally so lazy they cannot imagine that there may be another valid opinion ‘out there’ somewhere. You have a person who is pretty much ‘brain dead’ with regard to current events and the implication for the planet. You have a very seflish erpson who is at the center of their universe - along with rush, oreill, beck, coulter, rover, etc…
I think bush said it best: “You either stand with us, or with the terrorists (Fox News)”. It maybe the only thing Bush has ever gotten right - besides a bowel movement.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:25 pmFopx news: the Joseph Goebbels Memorial Ministry of Propaganda.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:27 pmFox news….damn typos!
April 28th, 2008 at 1:27 pmbarney from the simpsons:
“JUST HOOK IT INTO MY VEINS!”
April 28th, 2008 at 1:28 pmwouldn’t “republicans” be an awful lot more accurate than “conservatives” I don’t think that many conservatives, the real ones, agree with the war. fake news is a little too pro spending on death rays to please a real conservative voter.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:33 pmStratRat Says:
You have a person who is pretty much ‘brain dead’ with regard to current events and the implication for the planet.
But, you have a person who is very well informed with regard to the implications of current events concerning Britney Spears.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:37 pmoldtree Says:
wouldn’t “republicans” be an awful lot more accurate than “conservatives”
With the right side crowd, it is all about ‘branding’, not substance. Progressives are about substance. The right side has highjacked the ‘conserative’ branding because it appeals to scared voters who don’t want change in their lives. Change for them means questioning the status quo and questioning their past motivations. Change also requires thought and effort - both things the right side does not do well. Right siders live for the ‘vision’ of righteousness, not to be righteous.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:37 pmI figure, the cons with their heads in the sand are going to stay clueless, ill-informed, and useless to take on the future and tackle real world events.
They will soon be extinct.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:39 pmOldtree, you have a point. My father is a conservative Eisenhower/Goldwater/Nixon former Republican, who has voted straight Democratic ticket since 1992, and wouldn’t watch Fox News unless you tied him to a chair and taped his eyelids open.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:40 pmZimzone Says:
I guess this explains why CNN has become the newest ‘Fox in the Henhouse’…don’t want to lose any market share, even if we have to shout, scream or lie to get them viewers back.
Or hire Tony Snowjob.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:40 pmSeeing that FOXPRAVDA is so fair and balanced, why waste time with other news sources?
April 28th, 2008 at 1:42 pmConservatives Increasingly Tuned Out Everything Except Fox News Between 1998-2006»
On the good side, I’m sure more conservatives since 2006 have varied their news sources, drawing from the increases of lifelong conservatives switching democratic.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:45 pmFox + Limbaugh + Hannity = Mind numbed robots.
_AIO_
April 28th, 2008 at 1:45 pmHow many progressives have stopped watching corporate news I wonder? I only watch it to see what the spin on a particular story is.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:49 pmMax-1 Says:
Seeing that FOXPRAVDA is so fair and balanced, why waste time with other news sources?
That’s true. Take Bill O’Reilly for example. He fairly balances his program between demonizing immoral liberals, and pontificating on the evils of “Girls Gone Wild” videos, while playing cuts from them on an endless loop.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:50 pmConservatives Increasingly Tuned Out Everything Except Fox News Between 1998-2006
Like a petulant child, eyes closed, hands over hears, mumbling something about “must not think bad thoughts” repeatedly.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:50 pmYou are what you eat!
April 28th, 2008 at 1:50 pmBut too much Fox News may be bad news for conservatives. An April 2007 Pew Research Study survey found that viewers of the conservative Fox News channel had the lowest knowledge of national and international affairs.
Don’t need to do a “research study” to be able to determine that ; just read the posts of the imbecilic GOP/Chimpy leg humpers that infest this place ………..
April 28th, 2008 at 1:50 pmNot really surprising. I dont defend this trend, but if I found a news source consistently biased, I would find a new source. Unfortunately the source wingnuts chose is more biased and distorted.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:52 pmFacts have a liberal bias.
Reichwing, brainwashed, brownshirt, lockstep, lemming, neanderturds need to be told what to think…hence Faux Noise, Far From Balanced.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:54 pmI’m surprised a reich-winger hasn’t C&Ped faux’s ratings by now as some sort of perverse validation for watching that channel.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:55 pmDr. Hussein Matt Says:
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I’m surprised a reich-winger hasn’t C&Ped faux’s ratings by now as some sort of perverse validation for watching that channel.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Unfortunately
These GOP/Chimpy backers cannot comprehend that “popular” doesn’t necessarily mean “good” or “correct/factual”…….
April 28th, 2008 at 1:59 pmmoondancer Says:
Not really surprising. I dont defend this trend, but if I found a news source consistently biased, I would find a new source. Unfortunately the source wingnuts chose is more biased and distorted.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
______
Fair point - this is why years ago I stopped watching TV news altogether, (not counting The Daily Show). For me the awful bias of all TV news isn’t partisan so much as grossly negligent oversimplification and hyped-up yellow journalism. I’m tired of issues of global importance being preempted for round-the-clock coverage of a missing white girl.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:59 pmI have to admit, I used to watch Pox News in order to keep up with what the enemy was saying. I have not turned it on since Nov. 4, 2004. That was the day I decided that I don’t give a motherfu(k what they are saying anymore. Screw the right-wing fascist a-holes.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:59 pmA misinformed electorate is the only chance for the GOP
April 28th, 2008 at 2:07 pmmaintaining control of the WH. An independent thought
process is their worst enemy.
Faxu news has been the biggest cheerleader of this
administration. Propaganda is their specialty.
Fox nothing more than propaganda of the right ring, biased to the hilt………………
April 28th, 2008 at 2:07 pm“…survey found that viewers of the conservative Fox News channel had the lowest knowledge of national and international affairs.”
Shouldn’t that simply say,”lowest I.Q.
April 28th, 2008 at 2:10 pmit’s been obvious to US, but now there is actual documentation…
not sure how much good it’ll to - most people have trouble admitting they
were wrong, much less that they were brainwashed…
but, here it is…
April 28th, 2008 at 2:11 pmAn April 2007 Pew Research Study survey found that viewers of the conservative Fox News channel had the lowest knowledge of national and international affairs.
_________________________________________
Knowledge? I think Fox viewers are less concerned about gaining actual knowledge than they are about almost anything else. This is why it’s difficult to have rational conversations with them — in person, they can only refer to their collection of soundbites, and on the net, they only have links to wingnut sites to back up their lame arguments.
April 28th, 2008 at 2:12 pmCue somebody coming in and saying that Fox is best because their ratings are highest in
April 28th, 2008 at 2:14 pm3…
2…
1…
Those most interested in political news, nearly all partisans by definition, are slowly gathering behind red and blue networks.
“I have no doubt that Fox and CNN know what’s going on, and are playing to it,” Hollander said. They’re marketing data is better than his, and more up-to-date — but they’re not sharing.
The media migration that Hollander documented explains CNN’s current resurgence against Fox. The Atlanta-based network has invested heavily in its coverage of the never-ending, Democratic soap opera that pits Hillary Clinton against Barack Obama.
Conservatives seem to have a very low tolerance for the facts. Facts can be scary thing when it differs from what you believe. They tune out what they don’t want to hear and don’t want to understand.
April 28th, 2008 at 2:32 pmWe all fail to understand that ever since the rise of the new conservatism after Goldwater’s defeat, Republicans have recognized the necessity of controlling the media, messaging their positions and redefining our society. Republicans resorted to tried, true and standard propaganda techniques. They funded think tanks to propagate talking points, funded talk radio and other paid for pundits. (How did Regan survive after his acting career and before his political career? Groomed to be a conservative spokesman, he eventually made his mark.) Myths of the welfare queen, tax and spend Democrats, government waste and (do we ever see a single Democrat not considered to be far to the left or the most liberal in Congress?) incompetent government have been drummed into the minds of the electorate.
The Democrats have failed to seize upon similar tactics. They wanted to debate the issues. They wanted to stay above the fray. See where it has gotten the country. The media, once frightened of being to liberal and now firmly concentrated in the hands of a few corporate interests or wealthy conservative owners, will not independently attack the Republicans and conservatives for their outright lies or misrepresentations. We live in a time in which Democratic control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency should not be in question. However, we see a good chance that a flip-flopping, pandering McCain may very well continue the same government that has brought us to these lows.
April 28th, 2008 at 2:35 pm‘Tuned Out Everything’
That explains the rise of gated communities.
April 28th, 2008 at 2:49 pmNice to read you, JMOHR, all I can add is two words:
Institutionalized ignorance.
April 28th, 2008 at 2:50 pmThe right has to hide behind lies,corruption and Fox News because they cannot deal with reality. Their very core beliefs of the “NOBLE LIE” are being attacked by the left which has more pragmatic values vs the right`s neocon dogma which relies on their SPIN of the truth.
April 28th, 2008 at 2:50 pmViewers of Fox have the ‘lowest knowledge’ of national and international affairs.
Any surprise there !!!…
Look at the talking heads of Fox network.
April 28th, 2008 at 2:56 pmAnybody with little knowedge watching Fox television will know what this TV network is all about.
JMOHR Says:
We all fail to understand that ever since the rise of the new conservatism after Goldwater’s defeat, Republicans have recognized the necessity of controlling the media, messaging their positions and redefining our society. Republicans resorted to tried, true and standard propaganda techniques. They funded think tanks to propagate talking points, funded talk radio and other paid for pundits.
Former Vice President Henry A. Wallace predicted this exact scenario in his 1944 essay, The Danger of American Fascism
April 28th, 2008 at 2:57 pmIt was the perfect storm - a conflation of powers - the congressional waste of time on impeachment for lying about a sex offense; the (s)election of Bush/Cheney; the self-aggrandizing pundits who boast of “fair and balanced” on the propaganda network — and voila, we have the answer for the ill-informed, un-educated, masses who still believe Saddam had WMDs and other insanely wrong misinformation.
April 28th, 2008 at 3:15 pmtopgun Says:
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Why is this even an issue? This just means that Fox New is more entertaining and better at holding someone’s attention. All the 24 hour news crap is just that “crap”! So is Toilet Paper for using the same oversimplification spin tactics all these 24 hour news stations uses. And this site actually criticizes them for doing the same thing it does. That would be like Al Gore criticizing Nazi Germany for its propaganda machine. What a bunch of hypocritical Edward S. Herman worshipers.
April 28th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
“News” is supposed to be INFORMATIVE , not ENTERTAINING , retarded-Pete Mitchell……….
April 28th, 2008 at 3:40 pm“An April 2007 Pew Research Study survey found that viewers of the conservative Fox News channel had the lowest knowledge of national and international affairs.”
Stupid is as stupid does.
April 28th, 2008 at 4:14 pmMCMetal Says:
“News” is supposed to be INFORMATIVE , not ENTERTAINING , retarded-Pete Mitchell……….
topgun Says:
This just means that Fox New is…better at holding someone’s attention.
It’s called Attention Deficit Disorder. Right-wingers find information to be boring. Fox found a whole new audience by substituting entertainment for information.
Of course, I personally would become bored with such “entertainment”. Updates on Britney Spears, and missing blonds, alternating with spittle soaked rants against libruls and Democrats would seem to get old after a while, but they like it.
April 28th, 2008 at 4:19 pmToo bad you can’t make any more sense than this….guess that is why faux is good enough for you. They do profess to be “news” not a conservative propaganda machine and that is the problem…..too bad you are just too dense to understand that. Nazi Germany didn’t profess to be a democracy. This is still a democracy isn’t it. If a person said they were a doctor but you later found out they weren’t I guess that would be ok with you too.
April 28th, 2008 at 4:21 pmFred Says:
They do profess to be “news” not a conservative propaganda machine and that is the problem…
Exactly.
Maybe I can explain it to topgay this way.
topgay, imagine a library which replaced most of the books in the non-fiction section with novels, and continued on as if nothing happened.
Oh wait. What am I thinking? If topgay ever did go to a library, which is doubtful, he would never wander into the non-fiction section. Those books contain information, and cannot hold his attention. He would stick to Dr. Seuss and pop-ups.
April 28th, 2008 at 4:39 pmWay to show your ignorance. Maybe someone on your side should have read a few of Herman’s books instead of flaunting the failed and disasterous free market bullsh!t that has nearly destroyed our economy. Please tell me who is the fool?
April 28th, 2008 at 4:39 pmshoeless Says:
I know topgun(wow) simply detests facts….that is why faux is the fav. Facts will interfere with their message…..
April 28th, 2008 at 4:43 pmFred Says:
Way to show your ignorance. Maybe someone on your side should have read a few of Herman’s books…
No, those books are in the non-fiction section. How boring. Besides, they have way too many words, and no pictures at all! How is something like that supposed to hold the attention of a brain damaged Pox News zombie.
April 28th, 2008 at 4:54 pmFOX is the most ELITIST of all “news” networks. They tell the viewer what they should be thinking about regarding events by eliminating any facts that would cause the viewer to question the desired take that they want the viewer to go away with.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:00 pmwell, maybe those people didn’t tune in C-SPAN but they sure still managed to dominate the “phone-ins”!!!
April 28th, 2008 at 6:36 pmtopgun Says:
FLAGGED
April 28th, 2008 at 7:08 pmThe word “Republican” has come to mean criminal, ignorant, irresponsible, mean, stupid, and “Zionist controlled.”
April 28th, 2008 at 7:41 pmRepublicans enjoy wallowing in their trough of ignorance, stupidity, racism, fear and cowardice. Hence the popularity of “Fox News.”
April 28th, 2008 at 8:22 pmWho said that all stupid people are not republicans but all republicans are stupid? I think that says it all.
April 28th, 2008 at 8:32 pmIf there really was a battle of wits among democrats and republicans. I think the kill ratio would be about 10 to 1.
April 28th, 2008 at 8:34 pmWhat’s wrong with Fox News?
May 7th, 2008 at 1:10 pm