Colbert, Stewart viewers more well-informed than those watching O’Reilly, Dobbs.
By on Aug 18th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Colbert, Stewart viewers more well-informed than those watching O’Reilly, Dobbs.
A new Pew Survey on News Consumption released yesterday reveals that viewers of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are more knowledgeable about current events than those who watch Bill O’Reilly, Lou Dobbs, Larry King, and the “average consumers of NBC, ABC, Fox News, CNN, C-SPAN and daily newspapers.” Thirty percent of Daily Show and 34 percent of Colbert viewers correctly identified Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the majority party in the U.S. House of Representatives, compared to the national average of just 18 percent.
Update Steve Benen has more analysis of the results.
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“Thirty percent of Daily Show and 34 percent of Colbert viewers correctly identified Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the majority party in the U.S. House of Representatives”
WOW that’s pathetic!
August 18th, 2008 at 11:24 amGood grief…30-34% is the HIGH? 18% of the general population?? The sheer ignorance of national and world affairs is a key ingredient to the mess we’re in today. How else could an imbecile like George W. Bush be elected….twice?
August 18th, 2008 at 11:29 am5th Estate,
I also find that pathetic, because it says that the 23%ers are even more uninformed than the Progressives.
As Mr. White says; “Ya can’t fix stupid”. Even with smart comedy.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:31 am82% dumbed down?
August 18th, 2008 at 11:32 amHannity & Colmes?!?
August 18th, 2008 at 11:32 amSometimes I seriously think that Americans shouldn’t be allowed to vote until they pass a test with some really basic questions. Immigrants to this country know more about the way the government works than most Americans!
August 18th, 2008 at 11:34 amThis is hardly surprising. People who listen to the likes of O’Reilly and Dobbs are reality challenged, they have no interest in it. They only believe want they want to believe and are quite happy to uncritically accept what they’ve been told, no more, no less.
http://progressiveworldreview.com
August 18th, 2008 at 11:37 amAgain, TP, how is this topic “advancing the progressive agenda”?
More like “self-aggrandizing”, “we told you so” bravado spoon fed to a captive audience. Unfortunately, it still goes to show how utterly stupid the masses are, not just the regressives.
WHERE’S THE BEEF?
August 18th, 2008 at 11:42 amEven though the Stewart and Colbert viewers are “better informed,” those numbers are pathetic.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:44 amCaught a couple of J. Leno show’s awhile back and he did the street interview’s in California…Young college student’s and average working american’s coulden’t even name the photo’s of prominate figure’s in our administration…Suprising how many thought cheney was a russian diplomat and a couple of them didn’t even know who our current pres was…Yep! the dumbed down nation of mass consumer’s that produce little and are kept in the dark because they want to be…Remember the old figure’s of the Newt erra,,63% of the voting age public don’t vote, of that number most are not even registered…..Blessings
August 18th, 2008 at 11:48 amThirty percent of Daily Show and 34 percent of Colbert viewers correctly identified Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the majority party in the U.S. House of Representatives, compared to the national average of just 18 percent.
No wonder Bush got elected twice, the US is full of ignorant, airheaded morons.
Sheesh.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:49 amI always think back to the headline in The Mirror in the UK after the election in 2004: “How can 59,017,382 people be so dumb?”
August 18th, 2008 at 11:49 amFrom the Pew report:
Rush Limbaugh’s regular listeners are among the most likely to say they prefer sources that share their point of view …
Stephen Colbert’s viewers are among the least likely to seek out sources that reflect their political views.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:50 amAmurika is full of stoopid peple.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:52 amupside99 : As Mr. White says; “Ya can’t fix stupid”. Even with smart comedy.
Indeed.
There’s a big difference though between knowing that Condi Rice is Secretary of State and knowing what her function is or what she’s accomplished. I’m impressed that anyone knows who Gordon Brown is.
I think Pew should expand this survey with some true/false questions–THAT would show HOW informed people are, not just WHAT they are informed about. .
August 18th, 2008 at 11:56 amGimme a Break Says:
I always think back to the headline in The Mirror in the UK after the election in 2004: “How can 59,017,382 people be so dumb?”
August 18th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Now we know.
Oy…
August 18th, 2008 at 11:58 amNot surprising when Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart are so brilliant.
August 18th, 2008 at 12:01 pmThe American Stoopid – no wonder McStain’s their man. He doesn’t know the difference between Sunni and Shia, thinks Afghanistan borders Iraq, and “misremembers” his own POW experiences.
I guess these supporters feel smart by comparison.
PEACE
August 18th, 2008 at 12:16 pmGotta agree that those numbers are pathetic. At least its consistent when it comes to who is at the top:
August 18th, 2008 at 12:16 pmhttp://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/28/comedy.politics/
Gimme a Break Says:
I always think back to the headline in The Mirror in the UK after the election in 2004: “How can 59,017,382 people be so dumb?”
August 18th, 2008 at 11:49 am
______
And that’s AFTER vote caging and provisional ballots. Can you imagine how many more dumb people there would’ve been if the election HADN’T been rigged?
I’m guessing at least 59,017,387. Perhaps 59,017,388.
August 18th, 2008 at 12:18 pmJohn Stewart is fantastic.
I find Colbert too hyper-active and his show basically unwatchable. I usually switch the channel as soon as I hear his screech.
¶ AIO
August 18th, 2008 at 12:30 pmAnd we wonder how, as a country, why we’re being left behind in the technology race….
August 18th, 2008 at 12:33 pmThis is an interesting statistic, but even more interesting might be the reason why — is it that a fake news show and a fake pundit show are far more informative than the real things, or is it that the people who tune in to Stewart and Colbert are just smarter to begin with?
August 18th, 2008 at 12:35 pmI saw a study no so long ago that showed that 11% of American college students interviewed couldn’t pick teh United States off an unmarked map of the world.
I wasn’t surprised.
August 18th, 2008 at 12:40 pm.
Because not only does reality have a liberal bias, it also has a comedic edge!
.
August 18th, 2008 at 1:23 pmRight wingers aren’t smart enough to get the jokes from Stewart OR Colbert.
It’s why they are so easy to terrorize. They just don’t have the brain power to see through the scams being pulled on them.
August 18th, 2008 at 1:24 pmAlot of people make the mistake of thinking that other people think like they do, you have a good education, you’re informed, you keep up on current events, you know your geography, a basic understanding of how government and society works.
And that is a mistake, just talk to a few of these “Average” Americans and you will be shocked at the sheer ignorance that abounds in this country.
My wife drew up a blank world map and took it to work, (the Reichwingers were driving her nuts with their stupidity) and had them point to places she would name, several wouldn’t do it, because it would point out how stupid they were, and the ones that did got every question she had wrong, every one of them.
August 18th, 2008 at 1:24 pmas if on cue, tracy chimes in to validate the claims
August 18th, 2008 at 1:35 pmThis is not a surprise – it takes a level of intelligence to appreciate satire and political sarcasm and humorous irony. You can’t get the “joke” if you don’t have the background. Repugs have been short on humor, short on irony, and short on intelligence — anyone who would support Bush, support McCain, think BO and Dobbs tell the truth, and believe Obama would advocate infanticide are incredibly stupid and bigoted.
August 18th, 2008 at 2:02 pmBuckieBoy #27
This is fun to try one’s knowledge of geography:
http://www.lufthansa-usa.com/useugame2007/html/play.html
August 18th, 2008 at 2:06 pmMarie:
Thanks for the link. What fun!
August 18th, 2008 at 3:01 pmI’m shocked to find that my wife is better informed than I!
August 18th, 2008 at 4:24 pm5th Estate:
I agree. The report shows Hannity and Rushbo above the News Hour! Just because you know the names of a few people doesn’t make you informed about politics!
How about a question like:
August 18th, 2008 at 5:36 pmWe need to drill off shore because…
a – the dirty democrats aren’t letting us drill!
b – 68 million acres on land that we already lease just isn’t enough.
c – gotta make a “land grab” before the R’s are voted out.
d – doesn’t matter since oil transports and refineries are already maxed out.
e – We must maintain our lifestyle of excessive use of oil and oil products. (i.e.: screw conserving or reducing)
August 18th, 2008 at 5:44 pmOuch CBS News, you are barely a step above National Enquirer!!
Witch1, I saw a Leno In The Street interview where he asked a college senior “what country was south of Texas”. After really struggling, she said “Hawaii?”.
Didn’t the White House ask Colbert to be the main guest at the Press Club—not realizing that he was not conservative, but skewered conservatives?
August 18th, 2008 at 7:27 pmExtended greetings to the viewers of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, “You missed out on ‘Name That Show’ rerun” for just marking below 19 percent well above nation’s tax collections of the estate and trust income tax average of 16.3 percent?
August 19th, 2008 at 5:53 amThis is another example that the “old world jounalism of Murrow, Cronkite and Rather is dead and buried. In the case of the Time Magazine reporter Ms Tumulty, she seems to think the finding out the who, what, where, when and how have been replaced with a steno pad, which she records what ABC said in rebuttle to the complaint of Congressman Kucinich. There is a great disconnect with what happened and the points made by ABC. She asks little of no questions to ABC. She takes what is handed to her and repeats it vebatim and then calls that reporting. I call is stenography. Lida Sohbet sohbet sesli chat Gelinlik Modelleri
January 11th, 2009 at 11:23 amNot only is such a remark from a(n almost) president almost certain to further sour relations with Iran.
But when the hazards of tobacco led to restrictions in the US, the tobacco companies marketed heavily overseas, including hooking children.
Just another reason to be proud to be an american
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Thirty percent of Daily Show and 34 percent of Colbert viewers correctly identified Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the majority party in the U.S. House of Representatives, compared to the national average of just 18 percent.
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