The Pew Research Center has conducted a poll of Americans on the COVID-19 crisis and their sources of information. Not surprisingly, there are some dramatic differences in interpretations of the crisis depending on the source of information. The Center points out:
“One such difference emerges around knowledge and understanding of the pandemic. The group who names MSNBC as their main news source is far more likely than the Fox News group to answer correctly that the coronavirus originated in nature rather than a laboratory and that it will take a year or more for a vaccine to become available. On both questions, the portion in the CNN group to answer correctly falls between the MSNBC and Fox News numbers. This analysis comes from a survey of 8,914 U.S. adults who are members of the Center’s American Trends Panel.
“The Fox News and MSNBC groups also differ in their evaluations of the media’s coverage of the pandemic. Those who call MSNBC their main political news source are far more likely to say the media covered the outbreak somewhat or very well (92%) than the Fox News group (58%). And they are much less likely than those who name Fox News as their main source to say the media exaggerated the risks posed by the pandemic (35% of the MSNBC group vs. 79% of the Fox News group). And again, those who identify CNN as their main news source fall in between (82% rate the media as doing somewhat or very well covering the outbreak; 54% say the media exaggerated the risks).”
These results are not surprising but are nonetheless troubling. The wide discrepancies suggest that meaningful responses to the virus will prove difficult to forge. They also indicate that viewers of Fox News seem to be unwilling to revise their positions in the face of conflicting information. Liberal Politics are virtually impossible under such circumstances. Science was always held to be an arbiter of disputes, but that no longer seems to be the case.
World Politics News 
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