Survey Shows Link Between Trusting Fox, Negative Views About American Muslims

Written by Terry Krepel

Published

Survey after survey has shown Fox News viewers to be misinformed about important issues. Now, a new survey shows a link between trusting Fox News and holding negative opinions toward Islam and American Muslims.

The Governance Studies program at the Brookings Institution, working with the Public Religion Research Institute, has issued a report on America in the 10 years following 9-11, based on polling conducted last month. Some of the survey results highlight how Fox News viewers think differently about Islam and discrimination than Americans as a whole. From the report's executive summary:

  • Nearly 7-in-10 Americans who say they most trust Fox News say that discrimination against whites has become as big a problem as discrimination against blacks and other minorities. In stark contrast, less than 1-in-4 Americans who most trust public television for their news agree.
  • Approximately two-thirds of Republicans, Americans who identify with the Tea Party movement, and Americans who most trust Fox News agree that the values of Islam are at odds with American values. A majority of Democrats, Independents, and those who most trust CNN or public television disagree.
  • Nearly 6-in-10 Republicans who most trust Fox News believe that American Muslims are trying to establish Shari'a law in the U.S. The attitudes of Republicans who most trust other news sources look similar to the general population.

The full report goes on to note (emphasis added):

Americans who most trust any other media sources besides Fox News are slightly less likely than the general public to disagree that American Muslims are an important part of the U.S. religious community, including Americans who most trust CNN (41 percent), MSNBC (36 percent), the broadcast news networks (35 percent) and public television (29 percent). Among Americans who most trust Fox News, however, fully 60 percent report that they disagree that American Muslims are an important part of the U.S. religious community.

It also notes that on these attitudes toward Muslims, the gap between people who trust Fox News and those who trust other TV outlets is at least 19 points:

brookingschart