Exposure to 24-Hour News Channels Associated With Health Problems

Study Finds Viewers of CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC Are All Kinds of Sick

Atlanta, GA—A 2-year study on the effects of watching cable news offers grim details for news junkies. The study, conducted by the Center for Television and Media Research (CTMR), found that viewers exposed to programs on 24-hour news channels developed health problems at a much higher rate when compared to viewers of other programming. Researchers noted that a significant number of subjects developed “moderately serious” or “serious” health problems after viewing cable news programming.

CTMR recruited more than 2,000 adults and exposed them to several hours of continuous television programming over 14 consecutive days. Subjects were randomly selected into one of two groups. Subjects in the first group were exposed to a string of evening and prime-time programs on CNN, Fox News, or MSNBC. Subjects in the second group watched episodes of True Blood and Weeds.

Results showed that subjects exposed to programming on 24-hour news channels developed a range of health problems not observed in the control group. Nearly 34 percent of cable news watchers developed acute or chronic ailments during the study or its 6-month follow-up period. Problems included skin rashes, high blood pressure, moderate-to-severe bouts of hiccups, cardiovascular irregularities, brain hemorrhaging, fecal incontinence, projectile vomiting, and intestinal bleeding. In addition to these physical problems, dozens of subjects developed mental health symptoms, such as intense paranoia and persistent assholism.

In contrast to cable news watchers, only 2 percent of the control group experienced similarly serious health problems during or after their participation in the study. However, these participants reported increased interest in vampires, southern accents, drug trafficking, and “hot people.”

Reaction to the study was mixed at best. Largely ignored by the cable channels named in the study, its results warranted only brief, dismissive mentions on marquee shows such as CNN’s The Situation Room and Fox’s Stab Yourself With Glenn Beck.

CTMR has come under fire in the past from media personalities and policymakers alike. In 2006 Fox personality Megan Kelly referred to the Center as “a bunch of quackers.” In a 2008 tussle with lawmakers, a group of Democratic Senators threatened to investigate CTMR’s research methods after it warned people with narcolepsy to avoid the sound of Harry Reid’s voice. The investigation was later shelved.