Political scientists David Brockman and Joshua Kalla's study had participants watch seven hours of CNN a week in September 2020, amid coverage of the pandemic and the presidential election. At the three-day mark, the viewers took a survey. "We found large effects of watching CNN instead of Fox News on participants' factual perceptions of current events (i.e., beliefs) and knowledge about the 2020 presidential candidates' positions," the professors found. They discovered changes in attitudes about Donald Trump and Republicans as well as a large effect on their opinions about COVID.
TOPICS: Fox News Channel, CNN, Cable News, TV Studies