MediaWatch: February 1996
Table of Contents:
- MediaWatch: February 1996
- A Social Problem Blamed on Reaganomics Fades Away in Clinton-Era Media Coverage
- NewsBites: Tricky Dick's Tax Break
- CBS Reporter Bernard Goldberg Charges Colleague
- Networks Scared of Flat Tax
- Global Warming Shtick Returns The Heat Is Off
- Transportation's Travel Bill
- Knowledgeable Limbaugh Dittoheads
- Janet Cooke Award: The Evangelical Right Wing That Wasn't
Knowledgeable Limbaugh Dittoheads
Not The Media Caricature
In his just published book, Hot Talk: All Talk, All the Time, Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz argues that talk radio, especially Rush Limbaugh, has a corrosive effect on society as hosts heighten division and spread misinformation. But a new poll by Kurtz' own newspaper found that listening to Limbaugh may be the antidote, not the cause, of public ignorance as his listeners are among the best informed Americans.
A major Washington Post survey revealed an incredible level of ignorance as 40 percent of the public could not name the Vice President, 47 percent failed to identify the House Speaker, 66 percent had no idea who is U.S. Senate Majority Leader, 94 percent were unable to name the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and 58 percent thought the U.S. spends more on foreign aid than Medicare.
But Limbaugh listeners are in a better league. As the Post noted January 29, "They are much more knowledgeable than most about what goes on inside the Beltway and, although they are among the least trusting of the federal government, they are also among the most politically engaged voters." Over 80 percent are registered voters, "compared to only a quarter of non-dittoheads."
The poll demonstrated just how far off the mark reporters have been. In a January 1995 NBC Nightly News Bob Faw asked whether "talk radio is not democracy in action, but democracy run amok." Writing a Washington Post book review last May former CBS and NBC reporter Marvin Kalb charged: "Cut off the funding for NPR, or gradually reduce its funding to the point where it becomes a mere shadow of its usual robust, sensible self, and the American people may find themselves left with nothing much more than Rush and dozens of his mini-clones for information about the world. For Limbaugh's `dittoheads,' this may be the most splendid of tomorrows, but for other more thoughtful listeners, it may be the bleakest of forecasts."
Six in ten Limbaugh listeners "have very little confidence in the news media." Sounds like dittoheads have a better understanding of the media than the media have of them.
