Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Pew Center: FOX Viewers Favored Bush--WITH AN UPDATE!!!

Summary of Findings: Voters Impressed with Campaign

Bill O'Reilly makes another ridiculous claim on his program which, in fairness, he labels "the most ridiculous item of the day." He says: "The Pew Research Center is out with which media was most trusted during the presidential campaign? On the TV side, FOX News wins big. Twenty-one percent of Americans say they relied on us for their information during the election."

Now, I've spent the last couple of hours looking for the specific study he's referring to, and I can't find it. Frankly, knowing his level of intelligence, I'm pretty sure he misread the study that I did find, which says nothing about "which media was (sic) most trusted." But it does say something about the different information sources used by supporters of Bush versus supporters of Kerry. Guess which "news" channel Bush supporters relied on?

An Excerpt:

Seven-in-ten voters who get most of their election news from Fox News support Bush, while just 21% back Kerry. By contrast, voters who get most of their election news from CNN favor Kerry over Bush, by 67%-26%.

Note: I've heard how angry Mr. O'Reilly gets when anyone questions anything about him (e.g., his objectivity, his intelligence, his honesty). I certainly don't want anyone to be angry with me. If I've made a mistake, and anyone can find the specific study O'Reilly was referring to, or can find the specific data he was referring to in this post, please let me know and I will apologize wholeheartedly. But I don't think so...

UPDATE NOTE: In Keith Olbermann's smart and funny blog, he refers to O'Reilly's "creative" interpretation of the Pew study, and adds a couple of brilliant observations of his own. Apparently, my apprehension about inadvertently insulting Mr. O'Reilly was unnecessary. He is as stupid as he appears.

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