Topping this list would not likely shock Stephen Colbert, and not just because he would have felt it in his gut. While still with the Daily Show he explained why their audience reportedly got much of their news from the comedy program.

"Steven Colbert, a Daily Show correspondent, has said that he doesn't believe that viewers learn anything from the show. He contends that, if they weren't already knowledgeable about political and social affairs, they wouldn't get the jokes."

That, of course, is true, and may help to explain these new statistics.

Knowledge Levels By News Source:
News Source	High	Mod	Low
Daily Show/Colbert Report	54	25	21
Major Newspaper websites	54	26	20
News Hour w/Jim Lehrer	53	19	28
O'Reilly Factor	51	32	17
National Public Radio	50	29	21
Rush Limbaugh	50	29	21
News magazines	48	27	25
TV News websites	44	33	23
Daily newspaper	43	31	26
CNN	41	30	29
Google, Yahoo, etc.	41	35	24
Network evening news	38	33	29
Online news blogs	37	26	37
Local TV news	35	33	32
Fox News	35	30	35
Network morning shows	34	36	30

These results confirm previous studies that showed Fox viewers as being, not only the least informed, but also more likely to hold beliefs about news that were demonstrably false. You might think that the quantity and frequency of these studies would have some effect on how the rest of the media deals with Fox. They are simply not to be taken seriously. And their viewers are not an audience that is open to diverse points of view. They are too focused on their fabrications of reality.

While I have not seen a study that confirms this, I don't believe that Fox viewers are misinformed because of Fox. I believe that they self-select the news source that comports with their prejudices. Anyone who suggests that such an audience presents an opportunity for progressives to convey an alternate view is ignoring the deep-seated, built-in biases that attract an audience to Fox in the first place. Consequently, Democrats would have absolutely nothing to gain by appearing on a Fox-sponsored debate.

The study also makes some good points in support of the position that a decentralized and diverse media universe promotes greater knowledge. The study reports that...

"people who use more news sources know more than those who use fewer sources."

Some of this may seem obvious, but the Republican majority commissioners at the Federal Communications Commission still have to be convinced. They are presently conducting public hearings to determine whether media ownership caps should be loosened or repealed. This, despite the fact that numerous studies have agreed with the Pew Center's conclusions. In October of 2006, the Benton Foundation released a set of studies that...

"...make clear that media consolidation does not create better, more local or more diverse media content. To the contrary, they strongly suggest that media ownership rules should be tightened not relaxed."

And even the FCC's own research concurred in a report that was buried, and ordered destroyed, by then FCC Chairman Michael Powell. [You can help persuade the FCC not to allow more consolidation by contacting them through the FreePress-sponsored StopBig Media campaign].

The importance of having varied and independent sources for news has never been clearer. The myopia of Fox and it's audience is both frightening and depressing. If we ever hope to address the larger issues that face our country and our world, we will need an informed and energized citizenry. But the effect of the corporate media megaliths works in diametric opposition to that goal. They are, in fact, producing a nation steeped in ignorance and division, and this study is just another nail in that coffin. Those of us who see through the veil must continue to fight for a truly free press, the keystone of democracy and the only path to true liberty.