FOX Vs. CNN

Well before we go any futher basically, CNN mislead the public and FOX caught on.

CNN has been indicted of “an egregious misreading of data” used in a recent report that claims 68% of Americans need a coronavirus vaccine before returning to “normal life.”

CNN published an article Monday, which stated in its headline “68 percent of Americans say that a vaccine is needed before returning to normal life,” citing a “new survey.” It cited “two new Gallup surveys” but did not link either. CNN promoted the article using the same figures, using a tweet.

Nicholas Grossman a political science lecturer who teaches courses on terrorism and insurgency; national security policy; and the technology and warfare of the 21st century, refuted CNNs claims as “Does it mean a return to pre-coronavirus normal, with no masks in public, packed restaurants, and no worries about large indoor gatherings such as concerts, basketball games, and conferences? Does it mean the end of government-mandated lockdowns, which many states are easing already? Maybe it means something in between. The CNN article doesn’t say,” Grossman wrote.

CNN’s article did not lead with the expected details in the headline but instead noted that one survey found that “fewer people avoid small gatherings than those doing so last month” and “around 74% of Americans say they’re avoiding small gatherings.”  In the third subhead of the article, the CNN piece eventually gets to the “regular life” tidbit — and that’s what really vexed Grossman.

Grossman wrote that he had been looking for Gallup’s coronavirus polling and found a query about vaccines, probably where CNN got the “68 percent” number, because 68 percent of respondents said a vaccine is very important, but CNN presented it differently in its headline.

“Return to normal life: Another release from Gallup finds 80% of Americans say it is very important for those who test positive for Covid-19 to mandatory quarantine. They said this measure needs to be in place before they’d be willing to return to normal life,” the CNN article said. “Nearly three-quarters consider it very important for there to be a significant reduction in the number of new cases or deaths, and 68% rate the availability of a vaccine as very important.”

The headline of CNN said 68 per cent thought a vaccine was “needed” to return to normal life. But the study said that 68 percent feel that a vaccine is “very necessary,” as opposed to “required.” In comparison to regular life, the Gallup survey also refers to “normal activities.”

“The data doesn’t match CNN’s headline or tweet, which is all many people will see in the age of social media,”  Grossman added.

“Well, sure. If there was a COVID vaccine, who wouldn’t return to their normal activities? But the question, unlike CNN’s article, doesn’t say anything about what’s ‘needed,’” Grossman wrote. “’Thinking about your willingness’ is much less restrictive than ‘needed.’ Of course people are thinking about it. That doesn’t mean they’re unwilling to resume normal activities without it.”

Grossman wrote, “Claiming that this survey shows that ‘68% of Americans say a vaccine is needed before returning to normal life’ is an egregious misreading of the data.”

Grossman wasn’t alone in his thinking. Reason senior editor Robby Soave also accused CNN of misusing the data.

“The CNN article cites a Gallup poll as its source. But Gallup did not poll respondents on the question of whether a vaccine was ‘needed before returning to normal life,’ which was CNN’s wording of the question in the headline,” Soave wrote.

CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment from FOX.

“CNN should delete the tweet, fix the article, issue a correction, and be a lot more careful to accurately represent survey data in the future,” Grossman wrote.