Pew Survey: Viewers of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert Score High on News Knowledge

[ccharles000]

By Greg Mitchell

Published: August 18, 2008 4:00 PM ET

NEW YORK The results of the new Pew Survey on News Consumption (taken every two years and released this afternoon) suggest that viewers of the “fake news” programs "The Daily Show"and "The Colbert Report" are more knowledgeable about current events (as judged by three test questions) than watchers of “real” cable news shows hosted by Lou Dobbs, Bill O’Reilly and Larry King, among others -- as well as average consumers of NBC, ABC, Fox News, CNN, C-SPAN and daily newspapers.

The national average for answering the three questions was only 18%. But 34% of The Colbert Report fans got them right, with 30% of The Daily Show viewers doing so – even though the two Comedy Central shows draw younger audiences which generally scored less well on the "test" than older viewers/readers.

The Pew Report observed: “The Colbert Report and The Daily Show are notable for having relatively well-informed audiences that are younger than the national average.”

Topping the knowledge list were The New Yorker and The Atlantic (48%), NPR (44%), MSNBC’s Hardball (43%), and Hannity & Colmes at 42%.

While consumers of most news outlets scored poorly on the test, a separate question revealed that a vast majority believe they follow national news closely.


http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003839873&&imw=Y

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. Question is,

Do we watch Stewart and Colbert because we are better informed, or are be better informed because we watch Stewart and Colbert?