It’s the holidays. Your mom is already ten minutes into what will ultimately be a three-day rant about how the COVID vaccine is made from aborted fetuses and microchips. Meanwhile, off in the distance, your dad yells, “What about Hunter Biden‘s laptop?!” at the TV. As you attempt to numb your brain with pie and booze, a thought crosses your mind: How long would it take to wean them off Fox News?
Well, you’re in luck because science might be close to an answer. According to a new study titled “The manifold effects of partisan media on viewers,” Fox News viewers were paid $15 an hour to watch CNN for one hour a week for 30 days. The results were promising. Thanks to limiting their Fox News consumption, the viewers who stuck to the CNN diet showed a marked change in their political views, particularly in their thoughts about the COVID-19 pandemic and Donald Trump.
Here’s just a sampling of some of the results. Via The Independent:
On Covid, viewers who switched were six percentage points more likely to believe other countries handled the virus better than the US, five points more likely to believe that people suffer from whats known as “long Covid”, and 11 points less likely to say a president should focus more on containing violent protests than the pandemic.
On Mr Trump, there was a nearly three point decrease in the “feeling thermometer rating” after switching from Fox to CNN.
On then-presidential candidate Mr Biden, switchers were 13 points less likely to agree that “we’ll see many more police get shot by Black Lives Matter activists” if he was elected and 10 points less likely to believe his supporters were happy when police officers get shot.
As of this writing, the survey team is not offering gift packages and/or door-to-door service. But if they do, we’ll be sure to let you know after we snag up several reservations for ourselves. (Sorry, not sorry.)
(Via The Independent)