Donny Miller, an author, once said that, “In the age of information, ignorance is a choice”. News, which once would have taken weeks or even months to spread, is now shared with millions of people worldwide in minutes. In fact, it might be said that it is impossible for anyone to be ignorant of major events in the world. However people can be misinformed. But where does the fault lie? Is it the viewer’s fault or the media outlet that spread the inaccurate news? The answer is both.

Some media outlets, such as Fox News, have misinformed viewers according to numerous studies. These viewers are also likely to be misinformed about political controversies. For example, a 2010 survey by Stanford University political scientist Jon Krosnick and visiting scholar Bo MacInnis found that “more exposure to Fox News was associated with more rejection of many mainstream scientists’ claims about global warming, with less trust in scientists, and with more belief that ameliorating global warming would hurt the U.S. economy.” People who watch Fox News were also less likely to say that the Earth’s temperature is rising and most of those who did admit this did not attribute this to human activity. Compared to those who watch no Fox News, 60% of Fox watchers believe that global warming is “caused mostly by things people do or about equally by things people do and natural causes” as compared to 85% of non Fox watchers.

This spread of misinformation is most likely due to bias from the news source. Fox is infamous for misinforming its viewers by skewing the information. For example, in July 31, 2012, Fox Business’ Cavuto displayed a graph that showed what Americans in the top marginal income tax bracket would pay if the tax cuts made by Bush were allowed to expire. The chart however exaggerated the increase. While there was only a 4.6% difference, the chart made it seem as if the new tax rate was five times that of the original one. What is unfortunate is that this is not the first or last time Fox has done something of this nature. Time and time again, they continue to spread false information about political controversies and consequently misinforming the general public.

However this bias is not only limited to one side of the political spectrum. MSNBC has also displayed bias towards the left wing. To start, a research sample from the Pew Research Center found that 85% of MSNBC’s airtime was devoted to opinion while only 15% was devoted to reporting. This is a major difference compared to CNN which featured 54% reporting and 46% opinion. Even Fox News was more evenly split with 55% opinion and 45% reporting. But even though MSNBC primarily features opinion rather than facts, it would not be a problem if their opinions were grounded on truth which they are not.

For example, on November 15, 2013 Martin Bashir, former host of the Martin Bashir program on MSNBC, criticized Sarah Palin for relating the federal debt to slavery. Bashir referred to her as America’s “resident dunce” and also called her a “world class idiot”. He proceeded to talk about a man named Thomas Thistlewood, an overseer at a major plantation in the mid 1700s. Thistlewood is reputed to have started the punishment known as Darby’s dose which involved another slave defecating into the mouth of the offender. Afterwards he stated “When Mrs. Palin invokes slavery, she doesn’t just prove her rank ignorance. She confirms if anyone qualified for a dose of discipline from Thomas Thistlewood, she would be the outstanding candidate.” This is a prime example of showing bias for one side by deprecating the other.

However the media outlet is not the only thing to blame. The misinformed audience is also to blame for being misinformed. Misinformed viewers often do not bother fact checking the information given to them. This is not always because they are lazy, but is often because the viewers are so sure that the information is correct. The “facts” fit their political ideology so perfectly that misinformed viewers will just blindly accept it as true. This can prove to be detrimental as seen by the fact that many viewers have wrong information about many political controversies. With this wrong information, people will not be able to make informed decisions. If this continues, our system of a fair democracy will no longer exist.

People must take it upon themselves to find the correct information and make informed decisions. Otherwise, the public will just become pawns in a political battle between both political parties. Media outlets should not let their political ideology interfere with their work and viewers should not just blindly accept information as true.