ABC and CNN, two reputable news sources, have done their part in promoting a “study” that posits conservatives are the nation’s biggest consumers of online pornography. Problem is, many think the study is full of holes and fuzzy math. ABC and CNN bought it: hook, line and sinker.
CNN’s Kiran Chetry discussed the study with former porn addict pastor David Erik Jones, author of Your Struggle, My Struggle. ABC news posted the original New Scientist article on its Web site abcnews.com and both networks cited the study as though it were fact.
“Some of the people who are most outraged turn out to be consumers of the very things they claimed to be outraged by,” author of the study Benjamin Edelman said.
But Edelman, an Assistant Professor of Business Administration at
“Setting aside the fact that not all Republicans are conservatives and not all people who vote for a Republican President are members of the GOP themselves, Red States are not solely made up of Republicans and Blue States are not solely made up of Democrats. If a state went 51/49 for McCain, it's entirely possible that the 49% that voted for Obama could be the ones watching most of the porn. Of course, the 51% that voted for McCain could be the ones doing it, too, but the point is that this study has no way of distinguishing one side from the other.”
Mollie Ziegler Hemingway, a writer for getreligion.org with a background in economics, also found flaws with Edelman’s math.
“The data groups consumers by “states” and yet we then extrapolate based on anonymous credit card receipts that people who are outraged by porn are consuming it?” Mollie asked. “How do I explain to Edelman and Callaway that states are places where many people live and that in each state there are variations in behavior in attitudes?”
…
And when it comes to INDIVIDUALS (as opposed to, again, STATES), 60 percent more Democrats than Republicans report having watched at least one porno in the last year. That was from the 2006 General Social Survey. While there’s no breakdown for conservative versus liberal, it does seem to contradict the claims by the New Scientist and Edelman. And it has the bonus of being data-driven as opposed to existing solely in the fevered imaginations and poorly-done statistical analysis of two individuals!”
The “popular online adult entertainment provider” from which Edelman got his numbers is none other than Adult Video News, an adult entertainment trade publication. Forbes magazine took AVN to task back in 2001 for reporting faulty numbers about pornography use.
Daniel Weis, spokesman for the Christian group Focus on The Family, told the Salt Lake Tribune’s Dawn House that readers should exercise caution when reading the report. “My caution is that people do not extrapolate that this is a report for the entire nation,” he said. “The fact that conservative-minded people are fighting porn doesn't mean that they go home and look at it.”
If ABC and CNN are going to keep their reputation as credible news outlets, “studies” such as this shouldn’t be touted as credible sources of news.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Further citations needed
March 4, 2009 - 16:41 ET by SickofLibsThe study was based only on heterosexual porn.
→ SoL
March 4, 2009 - 16:59 ET by Cool ArrowIt didn't include lewd luaus and limo drivers.
We won the cold war! Why did we surrender?
cool - yeah, I bet thats
March 4, 2009 - 17:02 ET by SickofLibscool - yeah, I bet thats some good material there.
(Not that you or I would know)
→ We lose again
March 4, 2009 - 16:50 ET by Cool ArrowGet it out there with a banner headline and don't worry about the veracity.
The much later retraction (if there is one) will appear somewhere in the society page.
We won the cold war! Why did we surrender?
Fabricated BS
March 4, 2009 - 21:19 ET by needleWho is to say that this ridiculous faux “study” was not ginned up in the first place just to generate the desired Degenerate Media headlines, which as you point out could be retracted at leisure, if at all?
This is always a possibility whenever an off-the-wall politically biased story splashes out on the public via the Degenerate Media.
Impunitas semper ad deteriora invitat.
If you factored in gay porn
March 4, 2009 - 16:54 ET by TheConservativeChemistIf you factored in gay porn or disgusting stuff like bestiality and other gross stuff, the spread (sorry, bad word choice!) would probably be something like 85-15 commies:conservatives...
"Irony...lost on the left since 1917..."
Phony Porn Study
March 4, 2009 - 17:02 ET by mtdavsI noticed, rural areas were used for this study. If you were to factor in, say, New York City, Chicago, Philly, well, you get the picture, what would be the results then? Obviously, we'll never know the answer to this one, will we???
I'm not gonna look this up,
March 4, 2009 - 17:05 ET by SickofLibsI'm not gonna look this up, but I can just guess what the biggest seller was in SF.
I only have one problem with this post
March 4, 2009 - 17:08 ET by BKeyserObviously there were a lot of assumptions in the "study" conducted by former porn addict pastor David Erik Jones. (Who now comes off as Tragically-frustrated-and-angry-at-the-conservative-who-caught-him pastor David Erik Jones- but I don't like to cast aspersions...) I'm okay with some assumptions, it would be tough to prove or dis-prove, so he's left himself in the clear and people can choose to believe this ridiculous study or not.
It's the assumption that ABC and CNN are currently credible news outlets that has me wondering...
Oh, and I think that since stereotypes usually conclude that libs are often technically more savy then conservatives, they probably get their porn on-line for free...
Online Porn
March 4, 2009 - 17:08 ET by Two DogsOne thing you CAN do with this study is just agree, and then say, yes the Red States buy more porn online because we believe in the free market and USING OUR DOLLARS TO SUPPORT BUSINESSES THAT WE CHOOSE. Instead of thinking of porn as a RIGHT and downloading only FREE PORN.
Everything about this study and the reporting of it PROVES LIBERALS ARE STUPID.
Another MSM news "story"
March 4, 2009 - 17:10 ET by P. AaronAnother MSM news "story" composed of projection biased reporting.
wait a second
March 4, 2009 - 17:11 ET by katainkentABC and CNN have reputations as credible news sources?
As I said before : This is shark attacks being blamed on ice cream sales all over again.
→ It's true kata
March 4, 2009 - 17:16 ET by Cool ArrowIt must be true because there was probably a government funded study proving that obese people floundering in the water look much like seals to a shark.
We won the cold war! Why did we surrender?
One Slight Correction...
March 4, 2009 - 17:23 ET by Del DolemonteErin, you call CNN a "reputable news source". Nothing could be further from the truth. This is the same "news source" that falsely accused the US of nerve-gas bombing Laotian civilians, falsely accused US troops of murdering reporters in Iraq, and failed to report Saddam Hussein's atrocities against his own people for a decade, simply so they could keep their precious Baghdad Bureau open. They're a joke.
As for the online porn study, I took a look at Edleman's pdf last night. In fact, O;bama's "home state" of Hawai'i came in at #2.
The Leftist Hawai'i media has been frantically spinning this-yesterday the Honolulu Advertiser even went so far as to blatantly lie in their article, and one of the major Hawai'i weblogs tried to spin it by saying that the state wasn't really liberal, but in fact conservative. This despite the fact that the Democrats have been in total control of the state since Lyndon Johnson was President.
Just for the sake of
March 4, 2009 - 17:29 ET by DingbatJust for the sake of discussion, say there was merit in this. Does this mean that porn is worse than doing the nasty with professionals etc as so many married Dems have been caught doing?
This is coming from the party who said it's just sex?
March 4, 2009 - 17:32 ET by Lord ErondOnce again, I laugh that this comes from the left supporting shills who didn't oppose a president who used an intern's genitals as a cigar holder and her blue dress as a kleenex.
"Wherever there is a jackboot stomping on a human face there will be a well-heeled Western liberal to explain that the face does, after all, enjoy free health care and 100 percent literacy."
Just a thought
March 4, 2009 - 17:34 ET by jbeeebLets posit this...
If the conservatives in a Red state have been effective in limiting the porn available in their communities then people seeking it might have to seek the Internet as a source for their fix. Those people may be closet conservatives or they might be the libs who can't find it anywhere else.
Another thought, maybe it is only because the conservatives have been in successful in life and have the disposable income to spend on online porn. Next thing you know the downtrodden masses will ask the government to provide that to them as well! :)
Where is the study about the biggest producers?
March 4, 2009 - 17:35 ET by szampWhere is the study about where the biggest producers of porn are located?
Hey, it's another government
March 4, 2009 - 18:21 ET by ForeverOnTheRightHey, it's another government study we don't really need, unless you are seeking to shut it all down, legally.
At least conservatives have
March 4, 2009 - 17:42 ET by moderncommentaries83At least conservatives have the decency to look at porn in the privacy of their own homes.
Liberals need street festivals and parades to display their porn to all the world. Does 'Folsom Street Fair' ring a bell with anyone?
By the way, I'm being sarcastic. I think the study is bunk. But it's easy to point out the moral failings of conservatives when you're a liberal that has no morals.
Aut viam inveniam aut faciam
California has a safe
March 4, 2009 - 17:44 ET by snaggletoothieCalifornia has a safe majority of Democrats. California has repeatedly voted in favor of ballot measures against gay marrige. Thus Democrats are against gay marriage. And Republicans, a minority in California, must be in favor of gay marriage.
It's a big
March 4, 2009 - 17:46 ET by MidAmericaIt's a big misconception to think rural or conservative people are sqeamish about sex. Heck, I know several families that have more than ten kids. Those little bundles of joy aren't immaculate conceptions. The difference is that conservative or religious people don't parade their sexuality and they don't want you to parade yours either. However in private, thats a different matter.
Yes, true... The OTHER
March 4, 2009 - 18:05 ET by moderncommentaries83Yes, true...
The OTHER difference is the conservative people don't see those kids - be there 2 or 10 - as "punishments", nor do they sterilize/abort themselves into DINKdom.
They remember that sex has a purpose, whether you believe in creation or evolution, and that purpose is to beget children to raise future generations.
Aut viam inveniam aut faciam
Correlation between porn receipts and blue college towns
March 4, 2009 - 18:11 ET by nkviking75Every red state has blue enclaves. If nothing else, they gather in university towns. I wonder what would happen if these receipts were correlated with cities?or
When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.
how's this:
March 5, 2009 - 12:49 ET by freedomflame“subscriptions are 38% more prevalent in urban areas than in rural areas”
A finding from the study that these news reports conveniently fail to mention. (from the same page, actually, where the top- and bottom-10 consuming states were listed)
dumb
March 4, 2009 - 20:01 ET by goldboughWhy doesn't the MSM just say what they really think every day, "Conservatives are terrible people. Goodnight."
When will they do this study?
March 4, 2009 - 21:00 ET by GrannyGrump42Perverts found working at abortion clinics:
Jesse Floyd: Student nurse alleges rape
Milan Chepko, Abortionist and Child Porn Swapper
Richard Ragsdale: Caught with pornographic photos of foster daughter
George Elliott Kabacy, Abortionist and Child Pornographer
Laurence Reich, Abortionist and Pervert
April 22: Abortionist arrested for sexual assault on underage girl
There's more -- these are only the ones I've written up.
Pervert doctors associated with prolife pregnancy centers:
Zero and counting.
Hm.... I wonder what we can make of THIS bit of data
XXX...
March 4, 2009 - 23:42 ET by danybhoyThe funny thing about porn is that almost everybody denies knowing anything about porn, but it's a MULTI BILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY. Porn is pulling down big profits, but nobody you meet is buying/viewing it...RIGHT.
"The Fairness Doctrine = Jim Crow laws for Conservatives". Jim Quinn from "Quinn & Rose"
Wow some conservatives like to watch porn in Red States
March 5, 2009 - 00:37 ET by shawn228Stop the presses :-0
He had my vote
Remember Rush?
March 5, 2009 - 00:49 ET by JWFHe talked a little bit last weekend about conservative principles which are basically taken from the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution?
One of those principles is the pursuit of happiness. People want to pursue happiness by watching porn in the confines of their home.
Liberals confuse conservatism with christianity with Republicans with Red State constituency with don't forget nazi's.
Anyway, all those porn actors, they are all conservatives. Liberals are not very clean at all and they usually have scabs all over their bodies from the various diseases they give each other. So liberals cannot be in porn due to all teh ugliness.
Sincerely,
a Veteran of a 1000 psychic wars.
JWF
March 5, 2009 - 01:03 ET by shawn228Wow I actually agree with one of your post, how bout that :-)
I was mentioning just the other day, about how not all conservatives hate porn, and someone jumped on me and said "you don't speak for conservatives shawn!!'
Some very right social conservatives on this site think porn is morally awful and even wanted to ban the NB t shirt girls, but some conservatives believe that it is an individual freedom.
Your right about some scumbag Dems thought, this Liberal clown wants to ban Barbie dolls.
He had my vote
Sorry, but when it comes to threats to this country, porn...
March 5, 2009 - 01:09 ET by R D Helm...ranks down about position No. 327 on my list of things that we should be concerned with as truly "free" Americans.
Same sex "marriage" ranks one notch below that, as neither of the above threatens the life, liberty, or property, of even one single living American
Concern about either of the above does nothing to halt the rapid Marxist take-over of our nation that is underway TODAY, and will be fully completed by 2010.
What is more, most of you who are so "appalled" by porn will sit your little rug-rats right in front of a TV and let him or her view God only knows how many acts of violence, multiple times, but if your kid so much as sees two people who like each other having sex, or even a hint of a tit nipple on TV, you have a cow.
Wake THE HELL UP, people!
-Dave
Our clueless political leaders are about to drive us all over a cliff. The time to HITM is now-before we go over.
→ RD may I add?
March 5, 2009 - 01:10 ET by Cool ArrowIf I was in a foxhole staring down death, I wouldn't be asking my buddy, "Hey, you're not gay are you? I sure don't want no gay guy helpin' me fight off the enemy"
There were about 24 guys in my barracks, and five of them were gay. Three weren't hiding it, and I never got assaulted by any of them.
We won the cold war! Why did we surrender?
Libs can scream that we Amurricans are prudes all they like..
March 5, 2009 - 01:42 ET by R D Helm...but if it wasn't for sex, NONE OF US WOULD F'ING EVEN BE HERE!
And that includes those same libs, too. :-)
-Dave
Our clueless political leaders are about to drive us all over a cliff. The time to HITM is now-before we go over.
Even if conservatives WERE
March 5, 2009 - 03:04 ET by mostlymoderateEven if conservatives WERE the biggest consumers for porn, there is a simple explanation. Liberals are lying cheats so they usually download illegal copies of their porn via bittorrent, Limewire, P2P etc. Conservatives actually would PAY for their porn.
Weak conclusions drawn from limited and questionable data...
March 5, 2009 - 08:07 ET by JohnMcGrew...and channeled through wishful leftist media preconceptions. When you look at the methodology for this, it makes it easy to see why they also believe in anthroprogenic "global warming".
Credit card receipts?
March 5, 2009 - 09:39 ET by GreenhornetHey whoa!!! Has anyone wondered about this "nationwide study that analyzed credit card receipts from a “popular online adult entertainment provider” in various states"? If this is the basis for such a conclusion, seems to me disclosure of private information took place.