Study: Fox News viewers most misinformed

Fox News viewers are the most misinformed people in the nation, according to a new study.

The study, conducted by the University of Maryland, looked at how likely consumers of various news outlets and publications were to believe myths and falsehoods about a wide range of issues, from politics to global warming

Ninety percent of the respondents said they were exposed to false information during the campaign leading up to the midterm election. But Fox News viewers, regardless of their political affiliation, were “significantly more likely” to believe such mistruths as:

– Most scientists do not agree that climate change is occurring

-The stimulus legislation did not include tax cuts

-Their own income taxes have gone up

– The auto bailout only occurred under Obama

– It is not clear that Obama was born in the United States

– Most economists estimate the stimulus caused job losses

– Most economists have estimated the health care law will worsen the deficit

-The economy is getting worse

There were problems with other news sources beside Fox. Daily consumers of MSNBC and public broadcasting (NPR and PBS) were higher in believing that it was proven that the US Chamber of Commerce was spending money raised from foreign sources to support Republican candidates.

Daily watchers of network TV news broadcasts were 12 points higher in believing that TARP was signed into law by President Obama, and 11 points higher in believing that most Republicans oppose TARP.

The poll of 848 Americans was fielded from Nov. 6 to 15 by WorldPublicOpinion.org, based at the University of Maryland, and Knowledge Networks.