Far too often than I'd like to admit (or believe), I run into poll results that prompt me to facepalm myself so hard, I wind up leaving a mark on my forehead which gets asked about for the rest of the week. I read one such result just today. In a newly released poll by St. Leo University, it was found that more people believe Fox News to be a reliable source on climate change than President Obama. That's right; while 17% believe Fox is a reliable source on the topic, just 11% believe the president is. Here are the full results with regard to that question:
"Which of the following do you trust as reliable sources of information about global climate change? Check all that apply."
1) Non-government scientists and educators: 45%
2) Environmental groups: 33%
3) Mainstream media such as U.S. newspapers, broadcasters, and online media such as CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, Associated Press, New York Times: 22%
3) Scientists and Cosmos TV series host Neil deGrasse Tyson: 22%
5) Fox News: 17%
6) U.S. government: 13%
7) President Obama: 11%
7) Family, friends, or co-workers: 11%
9) Social media: 9%
10) Radio commentators Sean Hannity and/or Rush Limbaugh: 6%
11) Business or industry groups: 5%
11) Utility companies: 5%
13) Entertainers or celebrities: 3%
Don't know/not sure: 14%
Yes, Neil deGrasse Tyson is trusted by just 5% more than Fox News. Fox News is trusted more by 6% over President Obama, who is just trusted by 5% more than Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh on the issue of climate change.
Well, I hate to break it to the Fox News faithful, but just last year, a study was released by the Union of Concerned Scientists which showed that Fox News was accurate only 28% of the time when it came to their coverage of climate science, whereas they were inaccurate 72% of the time.
Along with those numbers, the following was also reported in the study:
"The hosts often instigated misleading debates about established climate science. In general, Fox hosts and guests were more likely than those of other networks to disparage the study of climate science and criticize scientists."
Sadly, the 2014 study actually showed an improvement for the cable news network in their climate-science reporting's accuracy. In 2012, it was found Fox was only accurate 7% of the time when reporting on climate science.
So, based on the fact more people trust Fox News as a reliable source on climate change than President Obama even though they've averaged to only be accurate with such coverage approximately 17.5% of the time the past three years, I now won't be surprised to see these findings in future polls:
- 32% of Americans use calculators to figure out math problems while 33% use the numbers on the back of fortune cookies
- 18% feel that Rush Limbaugh is biased while 22% feel the dictionary is biased
- 45% trust scientists with scientific findings while 52% trust Jesus
- 12% watch CBS for their news every night while 14% read their horoscopes for their news every night
- 20% believe fact-checkers to be fair and balanced while 25% believe Fox News to be fair and balanced
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/02/americans-fox-news-climate-change_n_6993360.html
http://polls.saintleo.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/SLU-Q-1-TABLE-Global-Climate-Change-National-Survey-Results_FINAL.pdf
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2014/04/08/off-the-mark-fox-news-coverage-of-climate-science-rarely-accurate
"Which of the following do you trust as reliable sources of information about global climate change? Check all that apply."
1) Non-government scientists and educators: 45%
2) Environmental groups: 33%
3) Mainstream media such as U.S. newspapers, broadcasters, and online media such as CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, Associated Press, New York Times: 22%
3) Scientists and Cosmos TV series host Neil deGrasse Tyson: 22%
5) Fox News: 17%
6) U.S. government: 13%
7) President Obama: 11%
7) Family, friends, or co-workers: 11%
9) Social media: 9%
10) Radio commentators Sean Hannity and/or Rush Limbaugh: 6%
11) Business or industry groups: 5%
11) Utility companies: 5%
13) Entertainers or celebrities: 3%
Don't know/not sure: 14%
Yes, Neil deGrasse Tyson is trusted by just 5% more than Fox News. Fox News is trusted more by 6% over President Obama, who is just trusted by 5% more than Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh on the issue of climate change.
Well, I hate to break it to the Fox News faithful, but just last year, a study was released by the Union of Concerned Scientists which showed that Fox News was accurate only 28% of the time when it came to their coverage of climate science, whereas they were inaccurate 72% of the time.
Along with those numbers, the following was also reported in the study:
"The hosts often instigated misleading debates about established climate science. In general, Fox hosts and guests were more likely than those of other networks to disparage the study of climate science and criticize scientists."
Sadly, the 2014 study actually showed an improvement for the cable news network in their climate-science reporting's accuracy. In 2012, it was found Fox was only accurate 7% of the time when reporting on climate science.
So, based on the fact more people trust Fox News as a reliable source on climate change than President Obama even though they've averaged to only be accurate with such coverage approximately 17.5% of the time the past three years, I now won't be surprised to see these findings in future polls:
- 32% of Americans use calculators to figure out math problems while 33% use the numbers on the back of fortune cookies
- 18% feel that Rush Limbaugh is biased while 22% feel the dictionary is biased
- 45% trust scientists with scientific findings while 52% trust Jesus
- 12% watch CBS for their news every night while 14% read their horoscopes for their news every night
- 20% believe fact-checkers to be fair and balanced while 25% believe Fox News to be fair and balanced
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/02/americans-fox-news-climate-change_n_6993360.html
http://polls.saintleo.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/SLU-Q-1-TABLE-Global-Climate-Change-National-Survey-Results_FINAL.pdf
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2014/04/08/off-the-mark-fox-news-coverage-of-climate-science-rarely-accurate
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