Dumbed down Americans

[Mr. Shaman]

Most TV viewers watch the news broadcasts on ABC, CBS, or NBC with total number viewers of about 20 million. O’Reilly is usually the most watched program on Fox News with about 3 million viewers. There is a huge difference between news reporting and news commentary. Fox News is mostly news commentary, giving a conservative opinion of the news and selective reporting which counterbalances MSNBC.

Neither news broadcasts nor news commentary are favorites with viewers and pale in comparison with American Idol, Dancing with the Stars or Sunday Night Football, which tells us where the public's real interest lie.

Evening News Ratings - TVNewser
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/06/10/cable-news-ratings-for-thursday-june-9-2011/95284/
Most watched TV shows of 2010 | accessAtlanta Holiday Guide Blog

I disagree that Fox is more news commentary than any other cable news outlet.

Maybe you just need to.....

....catch-UP!!

 

[Douger]

Take your seats while the movie runs and enjoy your GMO microwaved popcorn. Don't worry. The soda won't make you fat. It's sweetened with aspartame and made with the purest fluoridated water on earth.
Yes. we accept Discovery, Visa, murkin Express( to ruin) and any other plastic piece of shit we granted to you for our guarantee to rule.
Have fun, give thanks to dA loRd and Gawd Blass murka !
Understand ?

 

[Foxfyre]

This is where you libs run into a road block.
You claim the people of the US reject conservatism and that your side is the popular side. Your side in your opinion is deserving of the majority on Capitol Hill because you believe your way is better. You also claim the conservative movement is dying.
That said, how do you explain the high ratings of Fox news is our side is in such a minority?
If anything Fox News swings away from the typical liberal drivel we get from the alphabets.
Fox News is most watched because that news organization is getting it right.
I see that you are another one in a long line of liberals who are incensed over the very existence of a competing news organization that refuses to tow the typical liberal line of the main stream media.
Your problem and that of the political Left is you believe Fox News has no right to exist.
As far your side is concerned Fox News takes the "real story" and pulls it away from the rightful presenters( those with your point of view) and presents it in a way that makes the viewer decide his or her opinion on the events of the day. This is difficult for your side to deal with and if you had your druthers ,you'd just rather not deal with it.
So your side goes on it's daily crusade to impugn Fox News.
News Flash. It's not working. FNC's ratings keep rising while the MSM evening national news casts, their news magazine shows and their Sunday AM political shows keep losing viewers.
The bottom line is the country has had it with Obama's attempt to push the country too far to the left. That is why FNC counts many people who label themselves as "independent" as loyal viewers.
Like it or not, believe it or not, The USA is basically a conservative country.
We are socially moderate and fiscally conservative. Always have been. Always will be.
There is no room for radical liberalism or radical conservatism.
Before you react to that last sentence....Ask yourself why just before every mid term and presidential election Evangelical Conservatives and Bible Thumping rightists are always threatening to sit out elections. Answer. These people are unwelcome in the mainstream conservative movement. Reason.....They frighten people.

Most viewers watch mainstream news on either ABC, NBC, CBS news. Fox News is the only right wing TV news channel so naturally it will have the highest ratings because it has no competition.

Ahh.....Nice try. Fox News beats all of the alphabets COMBINED during the hours of evening national news broadcasts. That would be when ABC, NBC and CBS air their national newscasts. The alphabets ARE Fox News' competition.
This does not apply to LOCAL newscasts which incidentally are not counted in NATIONAL ratings.
One more time....Fox News draws more viewers than the three other networks combined in national newscasts. In other words, when ABC CBS and NBC are airing their national evening newscasts, more people are watching Fox News than those three networks put together.

Not quite right. ABC evening news for instance will have 6+ million viewers at least at some time during that newscast. In comparsion, Bret Baier in approximately the same time slot will have just over 2 million viewers; however all the other cable news channels combined won't match that for a straight newscast during or near that hour.

Network news still eclipses Cable News because it is free and more people have access to it. And probably some prefer it.

Which again makes it all the more ludicrous that the one more conservative cable news channel (Fox) plus radio talk radio continues to send leftist wingnuts into apolectic rages.

Before the advent of cable news AND the dumbing down of America. the network news programs (ABC, NBC, CBS) would easily pull a 30 share. They haven't seen that in decades now.

 

[thereisnospoon]

I actually watched a little bit of Jersey Shore... OMG. People actually watch that garbage?

I refused to watch that drivel. I grew up around Guidos. They are nothing but spoiled coddled doted upon white trash. The girls and women foul mouthed with makeup piled deeper than a seven layer cake. The boys/men quick tempered,"whadda yooo lookin' at", vain, roided out shit talkers when in a group are the toughest people on the planet ,when alone will puss out and threaten to get their father to stick up for them. Scum to the core.
Could you imagine if two of those people on Jersey Shore ever got together and reproduced?

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

I actually watched a little bit of Jersey Shore... OMG. People actually watch that garbage?

I refused to watch that drivel. I grew up around Guidos. They are nothing but spoiled coddled doted upon white trash. The girls and women foul mouthed with makeup piled deeper than a seven layer cake. The boys/men quick tempered,"whadda yooo lookin' at", vain, roided out shit talkers when in a group are the toughest people on the planet ,when alone will puss out and threaten to get their father to stick up for them. Scum to the core.
Could you imagine if two of those people on Jersey Shore ever got together and reproduced?

Used to live on Staten Island... nuff said.

 

[thereisnospoon]

Most viewers watch mainstream news on either ABC, NBC, CBS news. Fox News is the only right wing TV news channel so naturally it will have the highest ratings because it has no competition.

Ahh.....Nice try. Fox News beats all of the alphabets COMBINED during the hours of evening national news broadcasts. That would be when ABC, NBC and CBS air their national newscasts. The alphabets ARE Fox News' competition.
This does not apply to LOCAL newscasts which incidentally are not counted in NATIONAL ratings.
One more time....Fox News draws more viewers than the three other networks combined in national newscasts. In other words, when ABC CBS and NBC are airing their national evening newscasts, more people are watching Fox News than those three networks put together.

Not quite right. ABC evening news for instance will have 6+ million viewers at least at some time during that newscast. In comparsion, Bret Baier in approximately the same time slot will have just over 2 million viewers; however all the other cable news channels combined won't match that for a straight newscast during or near that hour.

Network news still eclipses Cable News because it is free and more people have access to it. And probably some prefer it.

Which again makes it all the more ludicrous that the one more conservative cable news channel (Fox) plus radio talk radio continues to send leftist wingnuts into apolectic rages.

Before the advent of cable news AND the dumbing down of America. the network news programs (ABC, NBC, CBS) would easily pull a 30 share. They haven't seen that in decades now.

Vs other cable news sources...
Ratings - TVNewser

Next time you hear one of the TV networks brag that they have “the number one rated newscast in America”, please be aware that it’s like saying you’re the fattest girl at the bulimics’ convention.

MediaBistro.com has the disastrous details:

Even as the oil continues to gush from the sea floor, and the networks shuttle their anchors to points along the Gulf coast, NBC Nightly News, ABC World News and the CBS Evening News continue to lose viewers. All three broadcasts were down in Q2 2010 compared to the same period last year.

In numbers released today, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams lost -440,000 viewers (-140k in A25-54 demo) compared to Q2 2009. ABC’s World News with Diane Sawyer lost -260,000 viewers (-80k demo) (Charlie Gibson was anchor in 2009). The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric lost the most, based on a percentage, losing -340,000 viewers (30k demo) compared to Q2 2009. ABC and CBS were also down when Q2 2008 is compared to Q2 2009.

And yet Fox News ratings just keep going up. Hmmmm. How can it be explained?

Source: MediaBistro.com
Broadcast Evening Newscasts Lose More than 1 Million Viewers in Past Year - TVNewser
Yeah, I see where you go those numbers.
Remember this, Cable and Broadcast ratings are measured differently. Hence the reason why there is no site or service that does direct comparisons between the cable and broadcast news outlets.
The bottom line is while the broadcast News outlets continue to lose viewers, Fox News ratings continue to rise.

 

[Trajan]

It's really too bad in what could have been an interesting discussion re the dumbing down of America dissolves into partisan bickering and sniping.

Evenmoreso when that evolves into unnecessary ad hominem and personal insults.

Tsk tsk.

here is truth- even if you are not IN fly over country, you are consigned and cataloged there if you so much as utter anything outside the party/bubble line.

I guess its fair though, you don't have to be IN in Manhattan or San Fran bubble to breath the air or carry the attitude, we just saw it, in spades.



whats the matter with Kansas?

they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant .......

homeschooling = redneck/woolhat/ hillbilly indoctrination; march on christian soldier, the south shall rise again, Nathan Bedford Forrest hero worship and Nascar to compliment their "90 IQ"....

 

[thereisnospoon]

I actually watched a little bit of Jersey Shore... OMG. People actually watch that garbage?

I refused to watch that drivel. I grew up around Guidos. They are nothing but spoiled coddled doted upon white trash. The girls and women foul mouthed with makeup piled deeper than a seven layer cake. The boys/men quick tempered,"whadda yooo lookin' at", vain, roided out shit talkers when in a group are the toughest people on the planet ,when alone will puss out and threaten to get their father to stick up for them. Scum to the core.
Could you imagine if two of those people on Jersey Shore ever got together and reproduced?

Used to live on Staten Island... nuff said.

SO you've experienced the pleasantries of Guidos as well.
As a matter of fact, at the NJ SHore, the locals despise these day tripping out worlders. They refer to them as "Bennies" or "Vinnies".
"Jersey Shore" will hopefully die on the vine.

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

I refused to watch that drivel. I grew up around Guidos. They are nothing but spoiled coddled doted upon white trash. The girls and women foul mouthed with makeup piled deeper than a seven layer cake. The boys/men quick tempered,"whadda yooo lookin' at", vain, roided out shit talkers when in a group are the toughest people on the planet ,when alone will puss out and threaten to get their father to stick up for them. Scum to the core.
Could you imagine if two of those people on Jersey Shore ever got together and reproduced?

Used to live on Staten Island... nuff said.

SO you've experienced the pleasantries of Guidos as well.
As a matter of fact, at the NJ SHore, the locals despise these day tripping out worlders. They refer to them as "Bennies" or "Vinnies".
"Jersey Shore" will hopefully die on the vine.

All to well. My neighbor, we'll call her Marion, got mad at me once and called her boyfriend over on me... his name was Sal and was all of 5'3" with the gold chains and the Vinnie Gumba warmup suit.

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

I don't think I met one Italian guy that wasn't supposedly "mobbed up".

 

[Trajan]

guys- I grew up in Canarsie, Brooklyn....my cousins WERE Guidos....one cousin used to 'comb' his short blow dried swept back hair so often my grandfather called him Cover Girl....

ladies and gentleman, if you have not met one, or know one, I shit you not, this is NOT caricature....

the clothes hair style attitude....its all real.

 

[Trajan]

I don't think I met one Italian guy that wasn't supposedly "mobbed up".

yup, the old saying was; " everyone's got an uncle vinnie"...

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

And they were always ranting about the "fuck'n niggas", the "PR's" (Puerto Ricans), the "Yids", etc. I learned more racial epithets living in NY than ever did down here.

 

[Trajan]

And they were always ranting about the "fuck'n niggas", the "PR's" (Puerto Ricans), the "Yids", etc. I learned more racial epithets living in NY than ever did down here.

naaah the 'yids' in Canarsie were cool, there was a lot of cross pollination if you know what I mean.... Jewish girls loved their goy boy toy guinea's...

 

[Foxfyre]

It's really too bad in what could have been an interesting discussion re the dumbing down of America dissolves into partisan bickering and sniping.

Evenmoreso when that evolves into unnecessary ad hominem and personal insults.

Tsk tsk.

here is truth- even if you are not IN fly over country, you are consigned and cataloged there if you so much as utter anything outside the party/bubble line.

I guess its fair though, you don't have to be IN in Manhattan or San Fran bubble to breath the air or carry the attitude, we just saw it, in spades.



whats the matter with Kansas?

they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant .......

homeschooling = redneck/woolhat/ hillbilly indoctrination; march on christian soldier, the south shall rise again, Nathan Bedford Forrest hero worship and Nascar to compliment their "90 IQ"....

Hee hee. Our kids grew up in Kansas--the oldest from second grade on. Got their bachelor degrees at Wichita State. So I know very well of what you speak.

But it isn't just 'fly over' country that is mischaracterized in the dumbing down of America, but those holding a particular ideological perspective. Identify yourself as more conservative than liberal, and you are immediately branded (by the left) as racist, homophobic, bigoted, uncompassionate, greedy, etc. etc. etc.

Need evidence? Just look at some of the comments on this thread alone.

One of the primary causes of dumbing down I think is the prevalence of ideological tunnel vision couple which, without any ability to support conclusions, results in an intolerance that challenges what one has chosen to believe.

In my opinion, it is very difficult for people to learn how to think critically or make any kind of rational value judgments in an environment like that.

 

[MaggieMae]

how is that germane? she has not been in office for what, 2 years? has she declared herself as a candidate?

has anyone asked for say romneys and pawlentys e mails?
do you even know if anyone has?


and, where are then; obama's Illinois state rep. and senatorial emails?

and mm are you sure you are not being told what to watch ala palin by the nets?

How is it germane? Why, when Palin knows that she garners media attention, did she choose to take her stardom to New Hampshire? Does she want Obama to get beaten or not? It would be one thing if it had been OBAMA visiting New Hampshire. That would have been explainable. Palin is a fucking spoiler for you guys, and the sooner you realize that, the sooner you'll stop making excuses for her behavior and drooling all over her.

ahhhhh...I seeeee, so its germane because the left and you have decided to become altruistic and help "us" out by reporting her every move and bashing the snot out of her....
Excuse me, but doesn't Sarah still work for FoxNews? Didn't she have her own reality show? Doesn't she Twitter all day long alerting everyone where she'll be every step of every day? Do you honestly think she wishes no one would follow her around? Oh you're funny...

Eureka!!!!!!NOW I get it thx...

are you kidding me or what?

and, I have made 'excuses' for her?

and the rest? Care to answer?

has anyone asked for say romneys and pawlentys e mails?
do you even know if anyone has?

and, where are then; obama's Illinois state rep. and senatorial emails?

The Palin emails were the result of a TWO-YEAR OLD FOIA REQUEST. By whom, I don't have a clue. But please don't try to pretend someone just recently obtained copies surreptitiously.

And as far as I know, both Romney and Pawlenty are serious, honest candidates who don't send up red flags by their goofy activities that their backgrounds need to be "investigated." I'm doubly sure that Obama's history has been poked and prodded going back from the moment he popped out--in a Hawaiian hospital.

 

[MaggieMae]

I sometimes am privileged to work with the AWANA group here in Albuquerque that provides extra curricular activities to almost all homeschooled kids. Four hundred of those kids participate at my church alone and there are groups all over town. You won't find a more mature, well rounded, well educated, and solidly grounded bunch of kids anywhere on the planet. They are all terrific.

I haven't noticed any bigots among any of them, I suspect though, if you looked hard enough, you might find a bigot somewhere.

Almost all of these kids do go on to college and they major in real subjects. They are my hope that we won't totally lose the country to a lost brainwashed or uneducated generation.

My comment was intended as an insult, a retort to the insult by Soggy. Nothing more. That said, I'm sure there are home-schooled children especially in the South who are taught history that favors southern supremecy, etc. Consider that the State of Texas has chosen to revise history several times.

I think home-schooling is fine, as long as the parents (or designated tutor) abides by the guidelines, and then only through grade 8. Thereafter, children enter adolescence/teens and are far more susceptible to their parents' influence, including their political preferences which absolutely has an influence on children because that happens anyway. But if their textbooks or "teachings/preachings" reinforce a political persuasion by omission or embellishment of historical fact, then we have a problem. In my opinion.

what?what insult did soggy make? I just read the 'offending' post.whats insulting?


However, I found your knee jerk reaction very revealing as I do your reinforcing of such right here above in the totality of your comments....... in fact you've dropped your panties, to bad really.

Soggy is an insulting asshole. Funny, I didn't used to think so, but you're getting that way too. Sad.

 

[MaggieMae]

I sometimes am privileged to work with the AWANA group here in Albuquerque that provides extra curricular activities to almost all homeschooled kids. Four hundred of those kids participate at my church alone and there are groups all over town. You won't find a more mature, well rounded, well educated, and solidly grounded bunch of kids anywhere on the planet. They are all terrific.

I haven't noticed any bigots among any of them, I suspect though, if you looked hard enough, you might find a bigot somewhere.

Almost all of these kids do go on to college and they major in real subjects. They are my hope that we won't totally lose the country to a lost brainwashed or uneducated generation.

My comment was intended as an insult, a retort to the insult by Soggy. Nothing more. That said, I'm sure there are home-schooled children especially in the South who are taught history that favors southern supremecy, etc. Consider that the State of Texas has chosen to revise history several times.

Well that was surely substantive.
Your snooty liberal elitism exposes you.

Oh, sorry. I should have included a few links. Here's one of many.

Conservatives on Texas school board revising curriculum, change history - National populist | Examiner.com

Texas also tried to revise biology textbooks because they didn't cover evolution as intelligent design, and a health textbook to remove any references to prostitution or venereal disease.

Yes, thank God I'm just a snooty liberal who believes theory doesn't belong in history books, and ignorance to reality doesn't belong in health books.

 

[Flopper]

Most TV viewers watch the news broadcasts on ABC, CBS, or NBC with total number viewers of about 20 million. O’Reilly is usually the most watched program on Fox News with about 3 million viewers. There is a huge difference between news reporting and news commentary. Fox News is mostly news commentary, giving a conservative opinion of the news and selective reporting which counterbalances MSNBC.

Neither news broadcasts nor news commentary are favorites with viewers and pale in comparison with American Idol, Dancing with the Stars or Sunday Night Football, which tells us where the public's real interest lie.

Evening News Ratings - TVNewser
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/06/10/cable-news-ratings-for-thursday-june-9-2011/95284/
Most watched TV shows of 2010 | accessAtlanta Holiday Guide Blog

I disagree that Fox is more news commentary than any other cable news outlet. The straight news programs do include intermittant interview segments within the news casts and they do a really good job of presenting opposing points of view with those. But even the weather channel has more information programming than it does straight weather reporting. Without the commentary and informative programming, nobody would watch any of it more than a few minutes a day.

But you are correct that more people watch the 'free' network news than watch cable news. Which makes it even more absurd that Fox is somehow skewing the system or distorting public opinion with 'lies' etc. But that doesn't keep the militant leftwing ideologues from thinking Fox News, along with talk radio, should go away lest people be allowed to hear something other than what those leftwing ideologues think people should be allowed to hear.

Unfortunately, you are correct. Most people care little for factual news. They want the news explained to them. If that explanation doesn’t agrees with their beliefs, then it’s likely to be considered biased.

When a commentator uses language such as, “Stay tuned and I’ll tell what you need to know”, “In other words, what he is saying is….”, “ So you can see where this is going…”, he’s presenting one side of the story, ignoring what does not support the argument, which is mostly what we hear on Fox News.

Fox News sports four hours of Beck, O’Reilly, Hannity, and Greta. With that line up, it amazes me that they can call themselves a News network. Now, I’m not saying MSNBC is any better. Both are a piece crap IMHO when it comes to news reporting. I suppose they’re good entertainment for those who like that sort of thing.

HLN is probably the most objective since they don’t support all the news commentary. CNN seems a bit better than either MSNBC or Fox News; at least they don’t have someone like Beck sermonizing the audience.

 

[MaggieMae]

I agree, so whats with the repeated fox bashing( not you oin general)? there's plenty for the left, whats the point?

It's hard not to bash Fox when someone fiercely defends it as being "fair and balanced." It is not. At least MSNBC admits it leans left.

Give just one example of a Fox News report that was "unfair" or "unbalanced"....

I don't intend to start a media war here. If you want to open your own thread asking others for "proof," then do it. This thread was started because I fear that far too many Americans have skewed priorities, whether they watch Fox or MSNBC, or PPV porn.