Pew Survey Reveals Sadly Uninformed Public -- And 5% Say Rupert Murdoch is British Prime Minister

I posted here yesterday about the in-depth new Pew Survey which, among many other things, gave respondents a three-question current events test. The results showed, for example, that viewers of certain "fake news" shows (Stewart, Colbert) performed better than those who favor many "real news" programs (such as Dobbs, O'Reilly). But what about the overall test scores for all viewers/readers?

Pretty pathetic.

Only 53% correctly identified the Democrats as being in control of Congress, with 15% picking the GOP-- and 32% not even able to venture a guess.

They did even worse when asked to name our current, longtime (and quite famous) Secretary of State. Only 43% named Condi Rice, 3% IDed someone else -- and an amazing 55% could not even take a shot at it.

And how many could name the new British prime minister? Merely 28% named Gordon Brown -- and guess who finished second with 5%? Our old friend Rupert Murdoch. Another 4% were sure it was Robert Gates.

Only 18% correctly answered all 3 questions.

Well, let's not forget that for years after 9/11, about half of all Americans thought there were one or more Iraqis among the plane hijackers.

But surely, by now, Americans at least admit they are somewhat deficient in keeping up with these things. Uh, not exactly. The same survey finds that 58% claim they follow "international affairs" very closely or somewhat closely. Two in three say the same about "political figures and events in Washington." Answering another query, 55% claim they follow national news closely MOST of the time, not just when something important is happening.
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Greg Mitchell's new book includes chapters on Stewart and Colbert. It is So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits -- and the President -- Failed on Iraq. He is editor of Editor & Publisher.

Comments

[SamThornton]

The tendency of those who lack knowledge in a particular area to vastly overrate their knowledge in that area is a fairly well documented phenomenon. For example, see this American Psychology Association Online article: http://tinyurl.com/63esjg.

The same tendency also explains why people like President Bush and Senator McCain can't understand why others think they're so out to lunch.

[realpolitic]

We are an uninformed citizenry. Fox News and conservative talk radio counts on us being uninformed to further their propaganda.

[MrLion]

What do you expect from voters who can name more "American Idol" judges than justices of the Supreme Court?

[Konnie]

exactly how we got bush in the first place.....................scary thoughts..................keep em stupid
and filled up with useless information..............anything but the truth...............

[KHAAANNN]

"Mission Accomplished!"

[SamThornton]

Thank you! Best laugh all day.

[jvarga]

I don't know, I get some comfort in the fact that people are willing to admit they don't know (32% and 55%) instead of making some stupid guess, or worse thinking they're right when they're wrong.

I mean, I realize that most people who comment here are never wrong about anything, and know every answer to every question before it's even asked (like a legion of Chuck Norrises), but this is a good wake up call for them that not everyone shares their omniscience.

[CitizenE]

Well, three questions, that even though they appear to be simple enough, are no more substantive than trivial pursuit do not really measure current events awareness. You know the kinds of questions I mean like how many hundreds of thousands of casualties have occurred to the Iraqi populace since we invaded? how many hundreds of thousands of Iraqis are currently living in exile or are internally displaced within Iraq? Who will have to pay for the costs of the Iraq war if it is never put on the national budget? Those kinds of questions might more aptly test our populace.

[magen]

But I bet these same people when asked about their favorite celebrity, or musical group, or sports team, can give you a whole bunch of obscure information.

[Scurvybro]

And yet, anyone who points out the obvious as demonstrated by this survey -- i.e., that Americans are chronically, relentlessly and defiantly stupid -- surely will be accused of "hating America."

[dogman44]

We are not stupid. We're just not interested is all. I mean if you can't eat it, or own it, or exploit
it for your personal gain, why think about it? Besides I heard Linsey Lohan experimented
with lesbianism and there's only so much I can read about in a day.

[peterg76]

"Only 53% correctly identified the Democrats as being in control of Congress..." That's hardly a fair question. The Democrats in Congress certainly don't seem to think that.

[rwe2late]

The Dems control the House of Representatives. But with "Independent" Lieberman the swing vote in the Senate, (and VP Cheney available on tie votes), Dems can hardly be said to "control" the Senate. Further, due to Senate rules on debate, at least a 60% majority is required to "control" the Senate.

Given the Dem "big tent", and the presence of so many "blue dog" Democrats. the so-called liberal wing of the Democratic party has very little control over anything. If anything, a conservative & neo-conservative alliance of Republicans and blue dog Democrats (who vote with Republicans on key issues) pretty much controls Congress.