Conservative media viewers usually tend to get the info about local weather change proper – what to do with it?

By Justin Haskins

From April 29 to May 3, Rasmussen Reports and The Heartland Institute, a national free market think tank, conducted a statewide poll of 2,000 likely voters. The poll included a series of questions asking likely voters how to get news and information, as well as various questions on issues related to climate change. The following survey results illustrate voter views on these important issues and how those views are correlated with news media preferences.

Some of the Heartland Institute’s key findings from an analysis of the survey are:

• There is a strong correlation between a voter’s preferred television news station and their understanding of basic facts about climate change.
• Compared to viewers on Fox News, another “other” cable news station, and those who don’t watch TV news, viewers on CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS and NBC are far more likely to believe that carbon emissions will continue to rise in recent times Human beings “to be completely or almost extinct” in the next 100 years due to climate change.
• For example, 58% of MSNBC viewers and more than half of ABC, CBS, and NBC viewers said that humanity could be extinct or nearly extinct within a century.
• About a quarter of CNN and MSNBC viewers believe that humanity could become extinct due to climate change within 50 years.
• CNN and MSNBC viewers are far more likely to overestimate global warming since the late 19th century than viewers of Fox News or any “other” outlet. 65% of CNN viewers and 67% of MSNBC viewers overestimated the warming by at least 40%, and three in ten CNN and MSNBC viewers overestimated the warming by more than double the actual figure.
• ABC, CBS, and NBC viewers were far more likely to overestimate global warming. Six out of ten viewers of these networks overestimated the warming trends.
• Non-cable news respondents and viewers of Fox News or “other” retail outlets (such as The Blaze TV or Newsmax) were more likely to correctly estimate the warming that has occurred since the late 19th century. More than four in ten respondents in these three categories answered correctly, compared to about three in ten viewers of CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, and NBC.
• 55% of likely voters believe that climate change is mainly caused by humans, compared to 45% who believe long-term planetary trends are the main cause.

You can download the full survey results and all crosstabs by clicking Here.

(In addition to our bullet points below, we strongly recommend that you download the full results and view the crosstabs for this survey as this is where you will find the crosstabs on media preferences and other important information.)

Justin Haskins is the Editor-in-Chief and Research Associate at the Heartland Institute.

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