From the Desk of the Editor

From the Editor's Desk

I read the other day in the Mideast Daily World News Roundup about a ground-breaking new study that states, "Those who receive most of their news from Fox News are more likely than average to have misperceptions."

The study, conducted by the University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA), focused on the following three misperceptions: 1.) the belief that evidence of links between Iraq and al-Qaeda have been found, 2.) that WMD have been found in Iraq and 3.) that world public opinion approved of the U.S. going to war with Iraq.

Additionally, Fox News watchers were "most likely to hold misperceptions—and were three times more likely than the next nearest network to hold all three misperceptions."

The revealing study illustrates what many already feel is deliberate deception of the American public. The study found that 80% of Fox viewers had at least one misperception. This is particularly disturbing since Fox News is the highest ranked cable news show in the country.

Perception vs. Reality
The disparity between public perception and reality also differs from the beliefs of many in the intelligence community. It has been plainly stated by intelligence analysts that there is little to no evidence of ties between Saddam and al-Qaeda.

As for WMDs, the report recently issued to Congress stated there is no conclusive evidence of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. Subsequently, Senator John D. "Jay" Rockefeller IV remarked, "Did they [the administration] mislead us, or did they simply get it wrong? Whatever the answer, it's not a good answer."

The study also found that 78% of those polled supported the decision to go to war, held the misperception that there was a link between Saddam and 9/11, and believed that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction.

The extent of the misperception among Americans varied greatly based on their news sources. Eighty percent of those polled stated that they get most of their news from TV and radio.

Daily News Roundup
Based on the findings of this study, I would highly recommend that you get your news from more than one source. The Mideast Daily News Roundup is a compilation of American, European, Arab and Israeli sources on the events unfolding each day. Each article is selected by Rafi Dajani and sent to thousands of people and organizations around the world. You can learn more about it by going to their website.

Respectfully,

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