October 2, 2003: Poll Shows a Majority of Americans Have Misperceptions about Iraq War

PIPA poll results by media source. [Source: PIPA] (click image to enlarge)A poll conducted by the Program on International Policy (PIPA) at the University of Maryland reveals that a majority of Americans have misperceptions about the Iraq war, and these vary significantly depending on people’s primary source of news.
48% of Americans incorrectly believe that evidence of links between Iraq and al-Qaeda has been found.
22% incorrectly believe that weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq.
25% incorrectly believe that world public opinion favored the US going to war with Iraq.
Overall, 60% have at least one of these misperceptions. For those who believe none of these misperceptions, only 23% support the war. But 86% of those who believe all three misperceptions support the war.
Furthermore, those who get most of their news by watching Fox News are much more likely to believe one or more of the misperceptions. Those who get their news mainly from National Public Radio (NPR) or PBS are much less likely to believe one or more of the misperceptions. The other major television networks fall in between. Such variations are also found within demographic subgroups of each audience. Interestingly, the more one watches Fox News, the more likely a person believes such misperceptions, whereas the more a person reads a newspaper, the less likely they are to believe such misperceptions. [Program on International Policy Attitudes, 10/2/2003]