Fox News Blasts University Study Claiming Viewers Are 'Misinformed

The social butterflies of the liberal blogosphere were all aflutter Friday after the University of Maryland released a study claiming that regular viewers of Fox News are the "most misinformed" when it comes to knowledge of American politics.

The UMD-commissioned study -- "Misinformation and the 2010 Election: A Study of the US Electorate" -- looked to judge how likely viewers of various news outlets were to believe false information (note: the study did not actually measure any sort of actual misinformation presented by some media outlets). According to the study, Fox viewers were "significantly more likely" to believe the following "misinformation":

--Most economists estimate the stimulus caused job losses (12 points more likely)

--Most economists have estimated the health care law will worsen the deficit (31 points)

--The economy is getting worse (26 points)

--Most scientists do not agree that climate change is occurring (30 points)

--The stimulus legislation did not include any tax cuts (14 points)

--Their own income taxes have gone up (14 points)

--The auto bailout only occurred under Obama (13 points)

--When TARP came up for a vote most Republicans opposed it (12 points)

--And that it is not clear that Obama was born in the United States (31 points)

FNC has since fired back at the report, defending the content of its broadcasts and judgment of its viewers while simultaneously dismissing the study and its conclusions.  Via the New York Times:

In a statement, Michael Clemente, who is the senior vice president of news editorial for the network, said: “The latest Princeton Review ranked the University of Maryland among the top schools for having ‘Students Who Study The Least’ and being the ‘Best Party School’ – given these fine academic distinctions, we’ll regard the study with the same level of veracity it was ‘researched’ with.”

Mr. Clemente oversees every hour of objective news programming on Fox News, which is by far the nation’s most popular cable news channel.

For the record, the Princeton Review says the University of Maryland ranks among the “Best Northeastern Colleges.” It was No. 19 on the Review’s list of “Best Party Schools.”

UPDATE:

Blaze reader Slobaphobe points out that among the study's biggest supporters is the Tides Foundation. Coincidence?