Studies & Research

Remember this study from Fairleigh Dickinson University yesterday? The one that said that viewers of Fox News and MSNBC were less likely to be versed in world affairs than people who watches no TV news at all? Well FNC has responded to the study in The Hollywood Reporter.

FNC responded to the study by referencing a Forbes ranker that trashed the school’s academic reputation:

“Considering FDU’s undergraduate school is ranked as one of the worst in the country,” said the FNC spokesperson, “we suggest the school invest in improving its weak academic program instead of spending money on frivolous polling – their student body does not deserve to be so ill-informed.”

The professor behind the study noted that it was not just FNC viewers that ranked low on the survey, other outlets, including MSNBC viewers, had problems as well.

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A survey from Fairleigh Dickinson University suggests that listeners to NPR and viewers of “The Daily Show” and Sunday public affairs shows are more informed than people who get their news primarily from, MSNBC or Fox News.

The survey is a follow-up to a study conducted by the University last November. That survey only polled those in New Jersey, hardly representative of the country as a whole. The new survey was national, and while it is an improvement, it still has issues.

It compared people who do not regularly get news from TV or radio, to those who do, and narrowed it down to specific outlets and genres.

“These differences may be small, but even small differences are important when we’re talking about millions of people,” said Dan Cassino, political scientist and poll analyst in a statement. “We expect that watching the news should help people learn, but the most popular of the national media sources – Fox, CNN, MSNBC – seem to be the least informative.”

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A study out of the George Mason Center for Media and Public Affairs once again shows that on TV news, the political horse race is more important than the issues.

The study examined the evening newscasts on NBC, ABC and CBS, as well as the first half-hour of Fox News Channel’s “Special Report.”

“The campaign horse race was discussed over four times as frequently as the candidates’ policies (386 vs. 16 discussions). Even when the candidates’ professional backgrounds are added to the comparison, the horse race outpaced substantive coverage by over a 2 to 1 margin.”

The report also said that there was “No pro-GOP tilt on Fox” and that Rick Santorum received about as much negative press on that channel as Mitt Romney did, rebutting his complaints from last month.

However, because the study only looked at the first half-hour of “Special Report,” it cannot be extrapolated to the channel as a whole, something Bill O’Reilly failed to indicate when mentioning the study last night.

A new poll from Suffolk University seems to confirm a trend that has become apparent over the last few months. When asked which TV news personality they trust most, a plurality of respondents (25%) replied “None,” with roughly the same amount (24%) saying they were “Undecided.”

Among those that had an opinion, Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly came out on top, garnering 7% of the vote, followed closely by ABC’s Diane Sawyer with 5%, with Anderson Cooper and Brian Williams each with 4%. O’Reilly led his show on Wednesday with the poll:

When asked what TV networks they trust most, Fox News came out on top, garnering 28& of the vote, followed by CNN and NBC News with 17% and 10% respectively. That is in line with PPP’s annual TV news trust poll, which found that FNC was both the most trusted and least trusted TV news outlet.

You ca check out all of the findings here (PDF).

Of the maps above, which do you think represents a measure of the popularity of Fox News and which represents that of MSNBC?

Working with Bitly, Forbes will start creating interactive maps to show which news sources — from CNN to The Washington Post to The Onion — are read and shared at above-average levels state-by-state. Granted it’s only one measure based on links generally shared through social networks including Facebook and Twitter, but it’s cool. So we’re sharing it with you. After the jump, the answer to the question above.

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Diane Sawyer tops the latest Harris poll of favorite current affairs personalities. Of 26 names, respondents were asked which three are their favorites. Almost a quarter (23%) said ABC’s Diane Sawyer, while one in five each say CNN’s Anderson Cooper (19%) and NBC’s Brian Williams (19%). Bill O’Reilly (15%) and Barbara Walters (15%) rounded out the top 5. The next 5 include ABC’s George Stephanopoulos (14%), NBC’s Matt Lauer (13%), ABC’s Katie Couric (13%), talk radio king Rush Limbaugh (9%) and Fox News’s Sean Hannity (9%).

When asked which three of the personalities are the  least favorite, almost half say Limbaugh (46%). Three in ten say O’Reilly (31%) and almost one-quarter say their least favorite is Nancy Grace (23%).

After the jump, a look at the numbers including the political breakdown of the favorites and where these personalities stood in this poll four years ago:

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Members of the Writers Guild of America East that work in TV news are both optimistic and pessimistic about the future of broadcast news, according to a survey conducted by the WGAE.

“Our members who are working in this area are optimistic that their employers are going to stay in the game,” WGAE executive director Lowell Peterson told TVNewser. “In the past we have heard from members that are concerned that maybe networks will stop doing news altogether. It doesn’t seem to be what people are really thinking, although they do think that the number of people that watch broadcast news or listen to broadcast news on the radio is going to decrease.”

Peterson also noted that technology is having a powerful effect on the future of news.

“[WGAE members] think that even their employers are going to put more and more stuff on the internet, either in addition to broadcast material or instead of broadcasting material. They also feel that their jobs are less secure than in the past, and that they are working harder.”

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Fewer Americans are closely following news about the presidential campaign than four years ago, the Pew Research Center has found. But of those who are, most are getting their information from cable news.

This latest Pew study, among a national sample of 1,507 adults, was conducted between Jan. 4-8, smack dab in between the Iowa and New Hampshire GOP contests, when the cable news channels programmed little else. If this poll is done, say, between Oct. 4-8, you’ll see local news as more of a source for coverage as more local and statewide races will make the news. The drop in the impact of other news sources is also due to the fact that four years ago there were two closely watched primary contests, not just one. But this doesn’t bode well for local newspapers and TV: their drop from 8 years ago, has been the Internet’s gain.

Back to the cablers, not surprisingly, when asked where they get most of their campaign news, Pew found, “far more Republicans than Democrats cite Fox News, while Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to cite CNN and MSNBC.”

Much more in the full report. Click here.

Mediabistro.com is partnering up with Poll Position, the new polling company founded by former CNN executive Eason Jordan. On occasion, TVNewser and our other blogs will share results from Poll Position polls having to do with news media consumption and coverage. Each Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday night, Poll Position conducts national telephone polling, asking more than 1,000 Americans 10 hot topic questions in addition to demographic questions – gender, race, age, political affiliation. Among the Poll Position questions this week was the following:

After the 19 Republican presidential candidate debates thus far in the campaign season, do you believe the GOP candidates should have more debates, or no more debates?

More	No More	N/O
46.5%	40.3%	13.2%

National Telephone Poll of 1,186 Registered Voters / 01.29.12 / Margin of Error +/- 4%

By a slim margin, a  plurality of respondents believe that there should be more debates. What happens when you break down the demographics?

Demographic details below

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Mediabistro.com is partnering up with Poll Position, the new polling company founded by former CNN executive Eason Jordan. On occasion, TVNewser and our other blogs will share results from Poll Position polls having to do with news media consumption and coverage. Each Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday night, Poll Position conducts national telephone polling, asking more than 1,000 Americans 10 hot topic questions in addition to demographic questions – gender, race, age, political affiliation. Among the Poll Position questions this week was the following:

In your opinion, is it fair or unfair to brand some journalists and media outlets as “The elite media”?

Fair	Unfair	N/O
35.3%	36.4%	28.3%

National Telephone Poll of 1,113 Registered Voters / 01.24.11 / Margin of Error +/- 4%

Respondents were divided on the question, with almost exactly the same number of people arguing that it was fair as unfair.

Demographic details below

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