Liberal media viewers are not just misinformed on climate change, but a new Heartland Institute and Rasmussen Reports national phone and online survey finds 50 percent of likely U.S. voters who say MSNBC or CNN is their favorite cable news outlet believe more than 100 unarmed black Americans were fatally shot by police in 2020.
Fewer than 50 unarmed black suspects were killed by police last year. More people were killed with knives than with so-called “assault weapons” as well.
Only 22 percent of Fox News viewers believe police shot more than 100 unarmed black people last year.
Twenty-four percent of CNN viewers and 19 percent of MSNBC viewers think cops fatally shot more than 500 unarmed black suspects. Just nine percent of Fox News viewers share that thought.
Sixty percent of Fox News viewers were able to correctly estimate the number of unarmed black people shot and killed by police in 2020 as less than 50. Sixty percent of talk radio listeners also estimated the number correctly.
Just 19 percent of MSNBC and 23 percent of CNN viewers were able to do the same.
“There is a strong correlation between a likely voter’s favorite television news outlet and his or her understanding of basic facts about police shootings and homicides involving rifles,” Justin Haskins of the Heartland Institute observed in an analysis. “Compared to viewers of Fox News, ‘another’ cable news outlet (such as The Blaze TV or Newsmax), and those who do not watch television news, viewers of CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, and NBC were substantially more likely to overestimate the number of fatal police shootings of unarmed African Americans.”
Among Republican voters, Fox News is the overwhelming favorite (58%), while most Democrats are divided between CNN (34%) and MSNBC (29%). Among voters not affiliated with either major party, 27% say Fox News is their favorite cable news outlet, 15% say CNN, 12% say MSNBC, 30% say “another” network and 15% say they don’t watch cable news.
