Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts...

     Last year the University of Maryland conducted a study of public opinion immediately after the 2010 midterm elections.  These elections were the first in the aftermath of the controversial Citizens United decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.  This decision cleared the way for corporations, unions, trade associations and political action committees to spend unlimited funds unrestricted  by accountability of any kind and outside of contributions to individual candidates.  The study sought to determine whether the American people, having been bombarded with unprecedented volume and intensity of electioneering communication, much of it of questionable veracity, perceived the information as reliable.  Another goal was to measure the prevalence of misinformation among the public as related to highly volatile campaign issues.
     The full report (found linked here) was disturbing on many levels.  In short, the report revealed a high degree of misinformation, inaccurate assumptions and false attributions among the public.  Though individuals who identified with the republican party were far more likely to be misinformed, democrats were also victims of misinformation concerning some topics aligned with issues that resonate with democrat ideology.  One of the most stunning revelations was the correlation between misinformation and the primary source of consuming news and information.
     The following is an excerpt from an article posted on Huffingtion Post by Jack Mirkinson on December 12, 2010 ( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/17/fox-news-viewers-are-the-_n_798146.html ):

Overall, 90% of respondents said they felt they had heard false information being given to them during the 2010 election campaign. However, while consumers of just about every news outlet believed some information that was false, the study found that Fox News viewers, regardless of political information, were "significantly more likely" to believe that:

--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)

In addition, the study said, increased viewership of Fox News led to increased belief in these false stories.

     The researchers did an exemplary job of impartially determining "the facts" defined as "the truth" against which to evaluate the survey responses.  They used panels of impartial and non-partisan economists undisputed by partisans on both sides, and clear indisputable documentation when possible.

     The Fox News organization, not unexpectedly, disputed the study findings.  However, they did so by attacking the credibility of the University of Maryland rather than attempting to dispute the methodology, assumptions or findings of the study.  Ironically, the attacks launched by Fox on UM were, in fact, based on distorted and false information (Mirkinson, 2011).

    Fast forwarding to last week, a poll  (full report linked here) conducted at New Jersey's Farleigh  Dickinson University in many ways confirmed the results by the University of Maryland a year ago.  The following excerpt from the Toronto Star quotes one of the researchers ( http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1090791 )

     The survey, conducted last month, found that people who watch Fox News, the most popular of the 24-hour cable news networks, were 18 percentage points less likely to know that Egyptians overthrew their government than those who watch no news at all, and 6 points less likely to know that Syrians have not yet overthrown their government than those who watch no news.
     “Because of the controls for partisanship, we know these results are not just driven by Republicans or other groups being more likely to watch Fox News … rather the results show us that there is something about watching Fox News that leads people to do worse on these questions than those who don’t watch any news at all,” Cassino stated in the conclusions.
He also told the Star that Fox News viewers are less likely to get news from elsewhere, given that Fox News “tends to be actually very good” at sowing distrust in other media.
     But Cassino again emphasized that none of the networks did a great job of informing its viewers. “These sorts of media sources don’t actually help people learn. They are not giving people the basic facts to makes informed decisions about politics,” he said.

      Revenue and profit motives, shareholder returns and political ideology have so distorted our media, that the mythical free press no longer exists.  What is more disturbing, is that the body politic have not yet recognized that they are being duped, manipulated and led to false conclusions.  In essence, people don't know what they don't know.  What will this lack of knowledge,depth, and understanding do to the relevance, competence and functional capability of our democracy?  Perhaps the last three years of political dysfunction within our elected institutions, and the increasingly radical leanings of our Supreme Court are an indication of the systematic deterioration of the fabric of our democracy.  As our democracy struggles, so does the very existence of our society and the dream of a humanitarian, socially responsible society where equality, tolerance, integrity and ethics are values shared and fought for by everyone.