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| (Fox News-Yonhap News) |
Researchers at the University of Chicago in the United States published a paper stating that “The probability of getting a global pandemic varies depending on what kind of news you watch.”
According to the Chicago Tribune on the 21st (local time), the University of Chicago’s Becker Friedman Economic Research Institute published a paper titled’Misinformation During a Pandemic’ released the day before, “Fox News’Hannity’. He claimed that the probability of viewers dying from the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) is much higher than that of’Tucker Carlson Tonight’ viewers.”
The four co-writers estimated that the initial infection rate and mortality rate of the program’s audience group, which were run by Fox News’ two leading anchors Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson, respectively, were significantly different and “due to the attitudes the two presenters showed toward Corona 19.” .
Based on the broadcast scripts of the two programs, “Carlson warned of the Corona 19 threat from the beginning of February. But Hannity considered it insignificant and changed his attitude from the end of February.” “Fortunately, there are no COVID-19 deaths in the United States yet,” he said, but Carlson had already raised concerns that’up to 1 million people can die in the United States due to Corona 19′ two days ago.
In order to compare how viewers of the two programs responded to Corona 19, the researchers conducted a survey earlier this month of 1,45 Fox News viewers over 55 years of age, and the county-specific news viewing patterns and the number of corona 19 infections and deaths. Revealed that it has been analyzed.
“Among the survey participants, Carlson Tonight lovers changed their life style in response to the Corona 19 threat before March 1, and Hannity lovers after March 1,” he said. “There was a noticeable difference from mid-March. As of the 14th, the confirmed cases of Corona 19 in areas with high Hannity ratings were 30% more than those in areas with high Carlson ratings, and the number of deaths confirmed on March 28, two weeks later, was about 21%.” However, he explained that the gap began to diminish as Hannity changed its position on Corona 19 from mid-March.
Fox News said, “This study is guilty of a’cherry picking’ error (selecting only favorable cases for argumentation),” he said. “It is reckless, irresponsible, and misleading.”
A spokesman for Fox News said, “Hanity has dealt with Corona 19 from the beginning. This paper delivers accurate information to viewers, including an interview with Dr. Anthony Pouch at the Allergy and Infectious Disease Research Institute (NIAID) under the National Institutes of Health from the end of January. I tried to do it and ignored the facts of repeating concerns and warnings.”
The research team said, “A study to find out how much can the media in the early pandemic influence the behavior of the public”. “The paper is still incomplete. It is the practice of the economics community to publish a working paper, and it will be published in specialized journals after review by fellow scholars.” (Yonhap News)
