Dear Subscribers to KC Media Watch:

This alert is adapted from one from MoveOn.org, with some additions by KC Media Watch:

THE PROBLEM

Earlier this month, a year-long study showed that Americans who relied on the FOX News Channel for their coverage of the Iraq war were the most likely to believe misinformation about the war, whatever their political affiliation may be. Those mistaken facts, the study found, increased viewers' support for the war.
Let's get the word out by writing letters to the editor of The Kansas City Star and complaining to our local FOX News affiliate highlighting these troubling findings:

Most FOX News viewers believe U.S. troops have found "clear evidence in Iraq that Saddam Hussein was working closely with the al-Qaeda terrorist organization." President Bush himself admits they have not.

More FOX News viewers than viewers of any other network believe the U.S. has found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq since the end of the war. The American weapons search team reports it hasn't found any.

More FOX News viewers than viewers of any other network believe world opinion was in support of the war. International polling found very little support for the war without United Nations approval.
As the Washington Post reported, "The fair and balanced folks at Fox, the survey concludes, were 'the news source whose viewers had the most misperceptions.' Eighty percent of Fox viewers believed at least one of these un-facts; 45 percent believed all three."

These are not matters of opinion; they are factual mistruths that FOX News viewers believe more than the viewers of any other network. This is cause for concern to all viewers who expect fair, accurate news coverage.

The study is the result of several nationwide surveys conducted by Knowledge Networks and analyzed by the University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA). More information about the study is at the end of this alert.

Not surprisingly, FOX News is not reporting the study, though other major outlets are. To ensure FOX News viewers learn the truth about the news they're watching, we must get the story out in local papers.

THE ACTION

MoveOn suggests: If we write hundreds of letters to the editor, it could become common knowledge that FOX News coverage contains many inaccuracies that lend support to Bush administration policies.

A couple of letters to the editor already have appeared in The Kansas City Star. So, in addition to writing to the Star, let's flood our local FOX network with calls--let them know their irresponsibility is not unnoticed!

1. Call WDAF-TV FOX 4 at (816) 753-4567 and tell them you're concerned about the study described above. (You can also email them at wdaftv4@wdaftv4.com, but a call or fax--Fax: (816) 561-4181--might get more notice and response. Their website, http://www.wdaftv4.com/, says they're unable to guarantee a response to e-mails.)

2. Write a brief letter to the editor (up to 150 words) to letters@kcstar.com or write Kansas City Star, Letters, 1729 Grand Blvd., KCMO 64108. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Or call (816) 234-4497 to leave a 30-second commentary. Leave your name, address and daytime phone number.

3. After you call and/or write, drop an e-mail to kcmediawatch@yahoo.com so we ll know how many of us responded. Feel free to include the text of your e-mails/letters to the Star if you wish.

And, please let MoveOn know you responded and what you said at: http://moveon.org/mediacorps/pipastudy_dash.html?id=1825-1337592-S2I2cwPAMMvib5f8NfTI4g

Your action will be registered on your Media Corps dashboard page:
http://moveon.org/mediacorps/dshbd.html?id=1825-1337592-S2I2cwPAMMvib5f8NfTI4g

THANK YOU!

MORE INFO. ON THE STUDY
To better understand the study's findings, read the coverage in the Washington Post and Inter Press Service below:

"[E]ven among people of like mind, where they got their news still shaped their sense of the real. Among respondents who said they would vote for George W. Bush in next year's presidential race, for instance, more than three-quarters of the Fox watchers thought we'd uncovered a working relationship between Hussein and al Qaeda, while just half of those who watch PBS believed this to be the case."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27061-2003Oct14.html 

"The study is likely to stoke a growing public and professional debate over why mainstream news media -- especially the broadcast media -- were not more skeptical about the Bush administration's pre-war claims, particularly regarding Saddam Hussein's WMD stockpiles and ties with al-Qaeda."
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16892 

You can read the study in full at:
http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Iraq/Media_10_02_03_Report.pdf