Fake News Consumers

Another tidbit from the Pew Survey of News Consumption: viewers of the "fake news" programs "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" are more knowledgeable about current events than watchers of “real” broadcast and cable news programs AND daily newspapers.

When asked three current events questions, the national average for correctly answering was only 18%. But 34% of The Colbert Report fans got them right, with 30% of The Daily Show viewers doing so – even though the two Comedy Central shows draw younger audiences which generally scored less well on the "test" than older viewers/readers.

What were the "test" questions?  Respondents were asked to identify which party now controls Congress, who is the current U.S. secretary of state and name the new prime minister of Great Britain.