Have other hard news publications reported the information in the same way? A survey put together by the Innovation Center for US Dairy found that 7 percent of adults believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows! I first saw the story when a journalist I respect posted the link to Twitter. According to the Washington Post, which cites figures from the Innovation Center for U.S. In fact, about half of 1,000 people polled said they weren’t sure where chocolate milk comes from. Success! Many Americans think chocolate milk comes from brown cows: study - National | Globalnews.ca The study also found that nearly half of Americans have no idea where chocolate milk comes from. Myth: Chocolate milk is not as nutritious as white milk. Over the course of several days, I spent dozens of hours reading every version of this reporting I could get my hands on, repeatedly went down rabbit holes following links I hoped would lead me to the raw source material, attempted to get spokespeople from three separate entities with ties to the story to respond to my request for clarification, and knew the entire time that none of it actually mattered in any big-picture way – an absurd waste of time, even for someone who works in journalism. Jokes about American intelligence were plentiful. The survey did find some other statistics that were considerably less appalling. Unsurprisingly, The Internet took … There’s also the grain of salt that some respondents are certainly trolling the pollsters with a knowingly ridiculous answer. Millions of people have somehow made it this far in life without realizing that chocolate flavoring doesn’t come out of a cow. ICYMI: Ouch! Chocolate milk isn’t chocolaty because it comes from brown cows—just as strawberry milk isn’t obtained from pink cows, in case that also needed clarification. And did this mean that even someone who plainly knew that chocolate milk was simply any milk that had been mixed with chocolate and sugar was not given the option of choosing anything resembling the correct response? According to the survey, 7 percent of Americans think chocolate milk comes from brown cows while 48 percent were unaware of how it is made. What are the sources? Dairy. “To be fair, some milk questions and myths may make us smile,” the center wrote on its website to clarify the age-old cow conundrum. Dairy suggests that 7 percent of American adults believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows. If we add this number to the 7 percent and recall Ragalie-Carr’s three-option response set, I guess we’re supposed to learn that 45 percent of those surveyed think chocolate milk comes from black-and-white cows, making the 7 percent pointing to brown cows officially the least impressive statistic in the bunch. Dairy suggests that 7 percent of American adults believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows. As a parent might say to a conscientious teenager who screwed up, “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed.” To make progress on news and information literacy, both news producers and news consumers need to do their part. A spokesperson for the Innovation Center told me the purpose of the survey was to “gauge some interesting and fun facts about consumers’ perceptions of dairy,” and the chocolate milk stat was apparently a winner. Seven percent of American adults believe that chocolate milk comes from brown cows, according to a new survey. Password reset email has been resent. PHOTO: It’s that last point that rankles in this particular situation. The News Literacy Project has been working on this issue for years, and has identified a number of questions students can ask themselves as they try to evaluate the veracity of a new story. An advocacy organization, the Innovation Center for U.S. We’ve become accustomed to seeing these kinds of poorly phrased survey questions pop up and go viral because of some bonkers statistic they claim to support. “Comes from” is heavy-handed phrasing in and of itself, implying the chocolate milk emerges as is, without human intervention. Were those the only three options – two cow colors or “I don’t know”? Genuine “fake news” – stories drawn from thin air – may have had its 15 minutes even before the president co-opted the term to mean anything he personally disliked, but these subtler versions continue to haunt anyone invested in our collective ability to parse fact from fiction. The build-up/tear-down cycle is exhausting, and “the media” come off looking either lazy and gullible, or malicious for trying to mislead the public. According to a new survey, nearly half the US population (47 percent) are unsure about where chocolate milk comes from. 4:55 PM EDT, Fri June 16, 2017. Kind of a mystery eh? Please click the button below to agree to our Terms and Conditions and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. Food & Wine magazine was the first to bite, on June 1 (World Milk Day), but the ball didn’t really get rolling until the Post jumped in two weeks later. Admit it, you’re laughing. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty. That a piece intending, to reassure us about ignorance didn’t pause to ask questions about the quality of information it was citing may be the most concerning aspect of the entire exercise. Last week, a Washington Post headline provoked a collective groan of embarrassment: apparently “seven percent of all American adults” think that chocolate milk comes from brown cows. RAGALIE-CARR: Well, there was brown cows or black-and-white cows, or they didn’t know. It too, however, failed to ask any questions about the origins of the data it was citing, and added that 48 percent of survey respondents – a number cited by, , too, but whose origin I haven’t been able to ascertain – claim not to know where chocolate milk comes from. Of all the survey participants, 48% said that they were not even sure where chocolate milk comes from. According to an official survey, a disturbingly high number of Americans aren’t quite sure where chocolate milk actually comes from. The answer did not surprise dietitians, who … (She declined to respond to my queries about the wording of the questions, and said the full results of the survey were not intended to be published.) Does the language seem geared to provoke outrage? The evergreen problem is that if we feel like we can’t trust journalists to vet the small stuff for us, we worry that we can’t trust them with the big stuff, either. This survey is as murky as chocolate milk. US survey: 7% of Americans think chocolate milk comes from brown cows A poll by a US dairy organisation found that nearly half of the respondents had no idea where chocolate milk came from. Like so many stories, it seems this one was originally hatched as a PR pitch. That works out at about 16.4m people. Dairy, commissioned the survey via a marketing firm, Edelman Intelligence, to kick off a campaign called Undeniably Dairy. Ouch! To complete your CNN profile and ensure you are able to receive important account information, please verify your email address. Dairy uncovered the fact that some Americans are pretty disconnected from how their food travels from the farm to their table.. Seven percent of all American adults believe that chocolate milk comes from brown cows, according to a nationally representative online survey commissioned by the Innovation Center of U.S. by the Innovation Centre of US Dairy, it was found that seven per cent of Americans believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows. CNN doubled down on highlighting the outrageous stupidity of those making the claim, and then spoon-fed its audience other stats from the survey, all of which may be equally dubious. It's been all over the news lately: a survey by the Innovation Center for U.S. Were those the only three options – two cow colors or “I don’t know”? Dairy suggests that 7 percent of American adults believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows. Some adults don’t know where chocolate milk comes from, and we’re a little concerned. When asked … All Rights Reserved. Dairy, commissioned the survey via a marketing firm, Edelman Intelligence, to kick off a campaign called, . 7% of Americans believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows. noted that it’s difficult to gauge reliability when you don’t have any context. Seven percent believe that chocolate milk comes to us from brown cows… Those of us concerned with news literacy and public trust in media feel let down when one of these stories fools us across such a wide array of platforms. Fact: Actually, chocolate milk – or any flavored milk for that matter – is white cow’s milk with added flavoring and sweeteners. ICYMI: The New York Times reporter who tweets like it’s going out of style. An recent survey found 7% of all American adults believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows, raising concerns that many Americans lack basic food knowledge. It’s been all over the news lately: a survey by the Innovation Center for U.S. We know this is hard to process, and you’re probably starting to question everything. What are the sources? (WTVO) – According to a recent survey, seven percent of Americans believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows. A careful listener’s ear may have perked up at this exchange. Chocolate milk is simply regular milk that’s flavored with cocoa. According to The Washington Post, this equates to roughly 16.4 million adults — slightly more than the Pennsylvania population. It turns out: not very much. She says they put that question to a thousand people and gave them several options for how to answer. 7% of them still think that chocolate milk comes from brown cows. And did this mean that even someone who plainly knew that chocolate milk was simply any milk that had been mixed with chocolate and sugar was not given the option of choosing anything resembling the correct response? In all seriousness, … CNN Sans ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network. Case in point, a recent survey by The Innovation Center of U.S. heard hosts Ari Shapiro and Audie Cornish mix in audio clips from Jean Ragalie-Carr, president of the National Dairy Council: A careful listener’s ear may have perked up at this exchange. A survey from the Innovation Center for U.S. According to the survey, 16.4 million believe that chocolate milk can be consumed straight from the udder of a brown cow, and a further 48 per cent were not sure where chocolate milk even came from. The same survey reported that 48 percent of American adults don’t know how chocolate milk … Last week, a Washington Post headline provoked a collective groan of embarrassment: apparently “seven percent of all American adults” think that chocolate milk comes from brown cows. and NPR ran with this story feels like a failure. A quarter of Americans have gone to the store before 6 a.m. just to get milk, and 95% of Americans currently have at least one kind of cheese in their fridge. A survey conducted by the Innovation Center for U.S. The survey was conducted by the Innovation Center of … Nearly half of them, 48 per cent, didn’t know where chocolate milk came from at all. A new survey finds that 7 percent of Americans think chocolate milk actually comes from brown cows. Does chocolate milk come from brown cows? Dairy conducted a survey … Sadly, seven percent of Americans think so. In all seriousness, … The survey was conducted by the Innovation Center of US Dairy in April. This is usually the part of the media critique where we’d look to assign blame, lament the decline of journalism training and the impossible speed of the online era, note that there are five PR specialists for every journalist, etc. Admit it, you’re laughing. Dairy found that 7% of American adults think chocolate milk comes from brown cows. A survey from the Innovation Center for U.S. And when asked about the survey’s methodology, McComb only said it was “conducted online.” That said, any adults thinking chocolate milk comes from brown cows is too many. If you’re reading this story because you’re in that 7%, we hear your cry for help. This particular version of “fake news” is pervasive and insidious. These are headlines editors probably wish they could take back, The story behind “one of the best reported pieces of the year”, Equipment you’ll need to start your own podcast, Delacorte Lectures on Magazine Journalism, Magazines and their websites: A CJR survey and report, © Copyright 2021 Columbia Journalism Review. The Innovation Center for U.S. These are headlines editors probably wish they could take back. An advocacy organization, the Innovation Center for U.S. © 2020 Cable News Network. U.S. Dairy’s Innovation Center surveyed more than 1,000 adults over the age of 18 in April and found that seven percent of respondents thought that brown cows make chocolate milk. The distinction between the 7 percent of 1,000 survey respondents and 7 percent of adult Americans was murky at best – the. A 2017 survey found that nearly ten percent of Americans think chocolate milk comes from brown cows. A survey has found an astonishing number of Americans think that chocolate milk comes from brown cows. The chocolate milk question was part of a survey, commissioned by a dairy advocacy group, ostensibly to gauge what Americans know about agriculture and food production. Dairy revealed that 7 percent of American adults—roughly 16 million people—think that brown cows produce chocolate milk. So, to the 7% that’s still reeling from your world turning upside down, have some chocolate milk. RAGALIE-CARR: When we asked them, where does chocolate milk come from, they indicated that they thought it came from brown cows. exactly was the question phrased? A recent survey finds that many people don't know where chocolate milk comes from, and some even think it comes from brown cows. CORNISH: Jean Ragalie-Carr is president of the National Dairy Council, which commissioned the survey. Those tuning into. This week, as the headlines of major media outlets fixated on the threat to American democracy, the coronavirus pandemic continued to rage. The NPR spot didn’t go into great depth about anything besides the chocolate milk tidbit. But let’s move on. It’s that last point that rankles in this particular situation. A survey found that some adults genuinely believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows. Genuine “fake news” – stories drawn from thin air – may have had its 15 minutes even before the president co-opted the term to mean anything he personally disliked, but these subtler versions continue to haunt anyone invested in our collective ability to parse fact from fiction. , running with a similarly lighthearted take. “It is a bit surprising,” a spokeswoman for the campaign told CNN. Like so many stories, it seems this one was originally hatched as a PR pitch. That serious, respected outlets like. VICE followed suit. Here are some brown cows that, shockingly, produce regular milk. There were a few hints of healthy skepticism. According to a recent survey, 7 percent of Americans believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows. It’s a great comfort drink, and, hey – you can even make it yourself. Seven per cent of American adults think chocolate milk comes from brown cows, according to a survey conducted by the Innovation Center … The online survey polled 1,000 American adults over a five-day period in May. Perhaps even more shocking is 7 percent of adults think chocolate milk comes from … brown cows. As far as intent versus reception, the Post article uses the statistic as a hook to talk about food production and agriculture literacy, though presumably some people stopped reading after the funny lede. … That's about 17.3 million people. If an account exists, we've sent an email with a link to reset your password. In a study by the Innovation Centre of US Dairy, it was found that seven per cent of Americans believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows. Fact: No matter what the flavor, milk will always be the same delicious and nutritious beverage that provides nine essential nutrients. ), There were a few hints of healthy skepticism. The survey was conducted by … A spokesperson for the Innovation Center told me the purpose of the survey was to “gauge some interesting and fun facts about consumers’ perceptions of dairy,” and the chocolate milk stat was apparently a winner. A survey put together by the Innovation Center for US Dairy found that 7 percent of adults believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows! The. And if that percentage sounds small enough to be reasonable, hang onto your hats: 7% of American adults is about 17.3 million people. Does the language seem geared to provoke outrage? A new survey conducted by the Innovation Center for U.S. There’s also the grain of salt that some respondents are certainly trolling the pollsters with a knowingly ridiculous answer. (She declined to respond to my queries about the wording of the questions, and said the full results of the survey were not intended to be published. Many palms hit many faces. A Warner Media Company. Perhaps even more shocking is 7 percent of adults think chocolate milk comes from … brown cows. Claim: Nearly one out of ten Americans think chocolate milk comes from 'brown cows.' 7% of Americans equates to roughly 16.4 million people who are over 18. By the following day, NPR had picked up the story, running with a similarly lighthearted take. did the math and deduced that 16.4 million Americans must believe that chocolate milk comes from brown cows. Seriously, let’s humor the 7% for a second here – if milk color is directly dependent on the color of the cow it comes from, why wouldn’t regular milk have scattered black spots? Every day, the United States reported more than two-hundred-thousand confirmed new cases of COVID-19; according to data from... headline provoked a collective groan of embarrassment: apparently “. The NPR spot didn’t go into great depth about anything besides the chocolate milk tidbit. Dairy found that 7 percent of American adults believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows. It was a reminder of the importance of knowing where our food comes from, a topic that touches on other relevant issues, like the much-buzzed-about rural-urban divide and the modern economy. Today in mind-blowing statistics: A full 7% of American adults think chocolate milk comes from brown cows, Food & Wine reports. ” think that chocolate milk comes from brown cows. It too, however, failed to ask any questions about the origins of the data it was citing, and added that 48 percent of survey respondents – a number cited by Food & Wine, too, but whose origin I haven’t been able to ascertain – claim not to know where chocolate milk comes from. Debbie Waumsley/Pixabay/IFLS Debbie Waumsley/Pixabay/IFLS By James Felton followed up the next day with a piece about how this particular example isn’t a very worrying aspect of, . Milk is produced by cows raised for the dairy industry. 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