Lies, damned lies, statistics, and Fox News

[thirdworld]

A recent Pew Research Center study reveals that viewers of the Daily Show and/or Colbert Report are the most informed TV viewers out there, as well as those who get their news from the web. Comedy show viewers are top? More than TV news shows? More than NPR? More than newspaper readers, and news magazine readers? Oy! So chicken or the egg question

Comments

[thirdworld]

Yes indeed, only 3% got 12 out of 12. Further, the national average is scarily low at 35%. Makes one consider SF-like scenarios where in order to qualify to vote you first have to take a test, because right now the average voter does not appear to have the information they need to make ever a remotely informed decision. In fact, beaten to death as this theme is, I'm going to write a story on the subject, just for me.

[benveniste]

Oy! So chicken or the egg question, is it because the viewers of these shows are already informed, or because the show is informing them? Or, like reality (as opposed to politics) is it a bit of both?

I believe it's both. If you aren't already informed, you aren't going to find the material on the Daily Show or the Colbert Show all that funny and wander off to, say, "The Real Housewives of Atlanta." But there's plenty of legitimate stuff on both shows so one can learn something as well.

The Ig Nobel prizes have a similar approach. They claim to honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think. Maze solving slime moulds, for example, are inherently funny; the thinking comes later.

[thirdworld]

I agree. There are times I get the news first from these shows, or they make me think about the news differently, but mostly I already get all the references, or I'm at least interested in them.

[deedop]

I also scored 12/12 and am a little surprised, actually. I took a wild guess on the Balkans question and got it right. (Those pesky Balkans... always trying to confuse me.)

[thirdworld]

Yes, I must admit that there were two options on that one that were possible and I had to think about it a mo. A couple of others too I know I was aided by the multiple choice format.