# What's your news IQ? \[edited title\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 6, 2013, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-news-iq-edited-title/668149 "2013-09-06T03:53:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-news-iq-edited-title/668149/21 "2013-09-06T07:41:33Z")
I did all right but had to guess on most of the US centric questions ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-news-iq-edited-title/668149/22 "2013-09-06T08:14:46Z")
13/13, and somewhat surprised. None of them were a complete wild guess, but there were a few I was far from sure about. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-news-iq-edited-title/668149/23 "2013-09-06T08:17:03Z")
Wait a minute, the results page includes the following: > [@](#): > > Below are the percentages of each group from the nationally representative sample who answered correctly during the telephone survey. Several of the questions had pictures; how do you ask those during a telephone survey? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-news-iq-edited-title/668149/24 "2013-09-06T11:56:08Z")
> [@deltasigma](#): > > MODS: Can you please change ‘new’ to ‘news’ in the title - sorry. Thought I checked that. The best way to make this happen is to hit “report this post” (no, it’s not just for spam – it’s for anything that needs a moderator’s attention, like a thread title typo, the need for a forum change, etc.) rather than wait for a mod who might or might not happen to read the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-news-iq-edited-title/668149/25 "2013-09-06T12:12:23Z")
13/13. How is knowing what a CEO or Snowden look like part of being well-informed? ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-news-iq-edited-title/668149/26 "2013-09-06T13:00:34Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > The best way to make this happen is to hit “report this post” (no, it’s not just for spam – it’s for anything that needs a moderator’s attention, like a thread title typo, the need for a forum change, etc.) rather than wait for a mod who might or might not happen to read the thread. Thanks. I normally do that but always feel like I’m being a pain in the ass when I do. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-news-iq-edited-title/668149/27 "2013-09-06T13:02:36Z")
12/13. Missed the Dow Jones average one. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-news-iq-edited-title/668149/28 "2013-09-06T13:08:22Z")
11/13, Top 10%, but I see I’m trailing among the Dopers. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-news-iq-edited-title/668149/29 "2013-09-06T13:10:06Z")
The Lindsay Vonn/Marissa Mayer one was the only one I missed. Since I can’t see a single reason why knowing what either one _looks like_ has anything to do with my ‘news IQ’, I’m upgrading my grade to 12/12 from 12/13. I coulda told them who Marissa Mayer\*\* is\*\*, with no problem. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-news-iq-edited-title/668149/30 "2013-09-06T13:14:50Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > 13/13. How is knowing what a CEO or Snowden look like part of being well-informed? I’ll give them a pass on Snowden because his face has been pretty much unavoidable in recent months: unless your sole source of news is the radio, you’d almost have to know his face by now. But I agree with you on Marissa Mayer. Knowing what her face looks like is not a measure of news IQ. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-news-iq-edited-title/668149/31 "2013-09-06T13:42:35Z")
7/13 and I’m quite shocked it was that high. Of the tiny percentage of news I pay any attention to, I get at least 99% of it from you guys. [spoiler] **What does the gold shaded area on this map represent? All states that currently…** Correct. I know Maryland has same-sex marriage, so I educated-guessed this one. **Which one is a U.S. Senator from Florida?** Wrong. I probably could have guessed correctly because Rubio is a name I’ve heard of, but for some reason, probably racism, I believe that everyone in Florida has a hispanic name. **Which best describes the relative numbers of men and women graduating from college with bachelor’s degrees in recent years?** Correct. I suspected it wouldn’t be newsworthy if it weren’t women. **What Middle Eastern country is highlighted on this map?** Correct. Are there really people who don’t know where Egypt is? **Which of the following shows the trend in the Dow Jones Industrial Average between January 2008 and July 2013?** Wrong. Beats the ever-loving shit outta me. When you have no money, you tend not to pay attention to those kind of things. **About what percentage of seats in the U.S. Congress are currently held by women?** Wrong. It was going to be one of the low ones, and I guessed wrong. **Who is this?** Correct. Definitely seen this face plastered everywhere. **Below are two charts of population pyramids that illustrate the relative size of age groups for a country’s population. The chart on the left is the population pyramid for the U.S. What country’s population pyramid is shown on the right?** Wrong. Why the fuck would I know this?! **What is Google Glass?** Correct. Completely random-guessed. **In recent years, which of the following Supreme Court justices has most often been the swing vote in closely divided court cases?** Wrong. Completely random-guessed. **What kind of policy is the U.S. Federal Reserve primarily responsible for?** Correct. Do people really not know what the Federal Reserve is? **Who is this?** Wrong. Completely random-guessed. **What does the term “Common Core” refer to?** Correct. It seemed to make sense.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-news-iq-edited-title/668149/32 "2013-09-06T13:51:24Z")
Went 12/13. Missed the stupid graph on No. 3. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-news-iq-edited-title/668149/33 "2013-09-06T14:04:17Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > I’m very surprised how many people get the dow graph question wrong. Why? I knew it went down and back up, and chose #4. I was close-ish. I don’t follow the markets at all. I don’t even really understand why people freak the hell out when it goes up or down a bunch of points. I got 12/13. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-news-iq-edited-title/668149/34 "2013-09-06T14:17:33Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > 12/13. Also got the Dow Jones graph wrong. Likewise. I guessed the slower-recovery graph (4). ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-news-iq-edited-title/668149/35 "2013-09-06T14:26:32Z")
Whoa. 12/13 – I wasn’t expecting this. I am not even American!! My only mistake was on the percentage of women in Congress. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-news-iq-edited-title/668149/36 "2013-09-06T14:38:59Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I’ll give them a pass on Snowden because his face has been pretty much unavoidable in recent months: unless your sole source of news is the radio, you’d almost have to know his face by now. > > But I agree with you on Marissa Mayer. Knowing what her face looks like is not a measure of news IQ. You nailed it. I have a 2-hour round-trip commute three times a week, and Morning Edition and All Things Considered are almost always on. I also read a fair amount of news on the internet, but I tend to frequent sites that are not picture intensive, unless I’m seeking information about a story that has a significant visual component. I got the Snowden question right because I know what Martin O’Malley, Julian Assange and Rory McIlroy look like. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-news-iq-edited-title/668149/37 "2013-09-06T15:34:52Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > But I agree with you on Marissa Mayer. Knowing what her face looks like is not a measure of news IQ. Mayer’s appearance has been a recent news issue. She did a photo shoot in _Vogue_ a few weeks ago. Many people criticized Mayer and _Vogue_ for supposedly portraying her as a glamour model rather than a business executive. [http://www.policymic.com/articles/59963/vogue-magazine-spreads-not-good-for-marissa-mayer-or-wendy-davis](http://www.policymic.com/articles/59963/vogue-magazine-spreads-not-good-for-marissa-mayer-or-wendy-davis) > **[Don't play dumb Marissa Mayer, you can be both pretty and smart](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/10276703/Marissa-Mayer-dont-play-dumb-you-can-be-both-pretty-and-smart.html)** > > Yahoo chief Marissa Mayer has caused a stir by posing for a photoshoot in the US Vogue. What's more alarming is that she says she's a "shy" girl who just "fell" into her job as CEO of the tech giant. Don't play dumb, says Julia Oliphant. [http://0-www.cnn.com.library.ccbcmd.edu/2013/08/23/opinion/drexler-mayer-vogue-pose](http://0-www.cnn.com.library.ccbcmd.edu/2013/08/23/opinion/drexler-mayer-vogue-pose) ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-news-iq-edited-title/668149/38 "2013-09-06T16:18:43Z")
I can’t believe I got the first question wrong! :smack: I didn’t realize that all of New England allows same sex marriage. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![The\_Lurker\_Above](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Lurker\_Above](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Lurker_Above)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-news-iq-edited-title/668149/39 "2013-09-06T16:25:02Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > **Below are two charts of population pyramids that illustrate the relative size of age groups for a country’s population. The chart on the left is the population pyramid for the U.S. What country’s population pyramid is shown on the right?** > > Wrong. Why the fuck would I know this?! Two ways; you can tell by how few 70+ year olds there are in the right hand graph or you can tell by the shape of the graph. In the country on the right people don’t live to be very old and have tonnes of kids. In other words they’re poor. And of all the options Nigeria is far and away the poorest. I don’t see how it’s a ‘news IQ’ question though, unless I’ve missed a bunch of stories about 3rd world poverty and how that effects demographics. It seems more like a geography question. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-news-iq-edited-title/668149/40 "2013-09-06T16:27:09Z")
I got the Congress, Dow Jones and Supreme Court questions wrong. I’m Canadian, so I don’t feel so bad about the two government questions. I selected 4 on the Dow Jones for the reasons other people above stated. I picked Mayer for her question just because she’s been in the news more lately so I thought it was a good guess. Oh, and Rubio was just a shot in the dark, his name sounded familiar from browsing CNN headlines daily. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-news-iq-edited-title/668149.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-news-iq-edited-title/668149.md?page=3)