NEW YORK (WBAP/KLIF News) — Amid rising awareness of fake news and allegations of slanted reporting another problem has been identified: most Americans don’t know the difference between fact and opinion.
The Pew Research Center released the findings of a new study of more than five thousand Americans who were given a list of statements and asked to identify them as factual or opinionated.
A report from Reuters explains: Participants were given five statements such as “spending on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid make up the largest portion of the U.S. federal budget,” and five opinion statements such as “democracy is the greatest form of government.”
Only 26 percent, barely more than one in four, could identify all five examples correctly.
The study concluded that a lot of the confusion is caused by a widespread lack of curiosity or exploration of current events via traditional and social media.
Amy Mitchell, director of journalism research for the Pew Research Center said, “There is a striking difference in certain Americans in distinguishing what are factual statements and what are not and that depends on one’s level of digital savviness, political savviness.”