Corporate Media

[Guest guest]

This is the same way that our societies are misled on

health issues, environmental issues, political issues

and many other things. F.

 

 

http://americanassembler.com/issues/media/

 

Corporate Media

The Verdict Is In: TV News Is Bad For Your Brain

 

A new study has revealed that people who rely on

television to get their news are more likely to be

misinformed on the facts about Iraq, WMD's and Iraq's

ties to 9/11 than those who get their news from other

sources or even who don't follow the news at al.

 

The study polled over 3,000 people on their

perceptions about international support for the Iraq

War, ties of Saddam Hussein to the events of 9/11, and

the Discovery of WMD's in Iraq. What they found,

incredibly, though not surprising, was that the more

people got their news from TV, the higher the

frequency of their misperceptions.

 

Out of all the news networks, of course, Fox News

ranked highest among misinformed viewers. The lowest

was PBS.

 

Bush's support tied to misperceptions

 

Another angle of the poll was to group by Bush

supporters or Democratic candidate supporters.

Naturally, the vast majority of the misinformed were

Bush supporters. This included Democrats that

supported Bush.

 

From the Program on International Policy press

release:

 

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.

 

So what does this mean?

 

The ramifications of this study are far reaching. For

one, it confirms the long held suspicion that

corporate controlled television networks are not only

failing to provide necessary information to viewers,

but are in fact providing false information.

 

It also confirms that, at least among the news

networks, liberal bias is a complete fabrication

which, because of this report, is easier to believe

since a significant percentage of viewers believe

liberal media bias exist because they heard it on TV

news.

 

But a larger issue exist here. The report shows a

clear link between misinformation and support for

Bush's war. Here's where the Orwellian factor comes

in. Not only did Bush & co. mislead the public into

war, but they had ready accomplices in the network

news organizations.

 

This forces serious questions about the motives of

those who hold the sacred trust of the public

airwaves. It also demonstrates how powerful TV news is

at affecting public perceptions and consequently,

public policy.

 

 

Read the report [PDF]

 

Visit the website www.pipa.org

 

Update: Another Study: Misperceptions Still Plague

American Public on Iraq

 

Bush's support tied to misinformation

 

College Park, MD: According to a new PIPA/Knowledge

Networks poll, a majority of Americans (57%) continue

to believe that before the war Iraq was providing

substantial support to al Qaeda, including 20% who

believe that Iraq was directly involved in the

September 11 attacks. Forty-five percent believe that

evidence that Iraq was supporting al Qaeda has been

found. Sixty percent believe that just before the war

Iraq either had weapons of mass destruction (38%) or a

major program for developing them (22%).

 

Despite statements by Richard Clarke, David Kay, Hans

Blix and others, few Americans perceive most experts

as saying the contrary. Only 15% said they are hearing

“experts mostly agree Iraq was not providing

substantial support to al Qaeda,” while 82% either

said that “experts mostly agree Iraq was providing

substantial support” (47%) or “experts are evenly

divided on the question” (35%). Only 34% said they

thought most experts believe Iraq did not have WMD,

while 65% said most experts say Iraq did have them

(30%) or that experts are divided on the question

(35%).

 

Not surprisingly, perceptions of what experts are

saying are highly correlated with beliefs about prewar

Iraq, which in turn are highly correlated with support

for the decision to go to war.

 

Perhaps most relevant politically, perceptions of what

the experts are saying are also highly correlated with

intentions to vote for the President in the upcoming

election. Among those who perceived experts as saying

that Iraq had WMD, 72% said they would vote for Bush

and 23% said they would vote for Kerry, while among

those who perceived experts as saying that Iraq did

not have WMD, 23% said they would vote for Bush and

74% for Kerry.

 

Among those who perceived experts as saying that Iraq

had supported al Qaeda, 62% said they would vote for

Bush and 36% said they would vote for Kerry. Among

those who perceived experts as saying that Iraq was

not supporting al Qaeda, just 13% said they would vote

for Bush and 85% for Kerry.

 

What Does This Mean

 

Just as the previous poll, this poll clearly indicates

that George Bush's electoral success depends on the

American public continuing to be wrong about the

facts. Wrong about WMD's. Wrong about Iraq and 9/11.

Wrong about Iraq and al Queda.

 

As stated above in bold text, George Bush's support is

directly proportional to the public's misperceptions.

 

This report, taken with the one below, leaves no doubt

that the US press, and particularly the television

media, are not only failing to inform the public of

the facts, but they are actually misinforming the

public in matters of the utmost importance.

 

It is our contention that as long as the press fails

to properly inform the public, the U.S.'s prospects

for responsible, qualified government remains dire. It

is simply unacceptable.

 

Thomas Jefferson said he would rather have a press

with no government than a government with no press. He

certainly was not referring to CNN, Fox, MSNBC, or any

of the other television news outlets.

 

What we have now is a press industry that is worse

than no press at all; an unaccountable enterprise for

whom holding accountable the most powerful is often a

conflict of interest.

 

The internet may one day offset this imbalance, but we

don't have time.

 

Instead of protesting the World Bank, the Wars, or

George Bush's public appearances, we should be

protesting the media conglomerations first. For no

matter how much we try, no agenda will be met until we

regain control over our press and that most powerful

tool for the propaganda of power, the television.

 

View the PIPA Press Release

 

View the PIPA Report