Most Important Event of ’07

A plurality of Americans (23%) cite Iraq as the single most important news event of 2007, but significantly fewer named Iraq as the year’s top event than did so in 2006 (34%). Pew surveys have shown that public attentiveness to the war, which was extensive early in 2007, declined later in the year. Aside from Iraq, no single event stood out in the public’s view as the most important in 2007. Overall, 4% volunteered natural disasters and the weather and 3% cited the home mortgage crisis, with smaller numbers naming other stories. In 2006, the midterm election was mentioned by 12% as the most important news event, by far the highest percentage for any other story except Iraq. The public’s retrospective view of the year’s most important news event differs from news interest, which the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press tracks on a weekly basis. By that measure, the rising price of gasoline and the Virginia Tech University shootings were the top stories of 2007. Read More