It has been nearly four decades since the United States government mandated the use by federal agencies of the terms “Hispanic” or “Latino” to categorize Americans who trace their roots to Spanish-speaking countries, but the labels still haven’t been fully embraced by the group to which they have been affixed.

Only about one-quarter (24%) of Hispanic adults say they most often identify themselves by “Hispanic” or “Latino,” according to a new nationwide survey of Hispanic adults by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center. About half (51%) say they identify themselves most often by their family’s country or place of origin-using such terms as Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Salvadoran or Dominican. And 21% say they use the term “American” most often to describe themselves. The share rises to 40% among those who were born in the U.S.

By a ratio of more than two-to-one, survey respondents say that the more than 50 million Latinos in the U.S. have many different cultures rather than a common culture. Respondents do, however, express a strong, shared connection to the Spanish language. More than eight-in-ten Latino adults say they speak Spanish, and nearly all say it is important for future generations to continue to do so.

Hispanics are also divided over how much of a common identity they share with other Americans. Just under half say they consider themselves to be very different from the typical American. And just one-in-five say they use the term “American” most often to describe their identity.

Read the full report for detailed findings on these subjects:

• Identity, pan-ethnicity and race
• The American experience
• Language use among Latinos
• Politics, values and religion

The Trayvon Martin case has highlighted issues relating to the treatment of blacks by local police departments, the state of race relations in the U.S. and press coverage of African Americans. Pew Research Center surveys in recent years have covered the opinions of African Americans on these and other issues.

• A survey in 2009 found that while African Americans had a positive overall assessment of the state of race relations in the country, just 14% of them said they had a great deal of confidence in local police officers to treat blacks and whites equally, compared to 38% of whites.

• The same survey found that 43% of Africans Americans said that there is a lot of discrimination against blacks, compared with just 13% of whites.

• Nearly six-in-ten (58%) African Americans said that news coverage of blacks was too negative; just 31% of whites said that coverage of blacks was too negative, according to a survey conducted in 2010.

• The Trayvon Martin killing controversy was the public’s most-followed story during the March 22-25 period. African Americans were more than twice as likely as whites to say that this was their top story (52% vs. 20%).

Read the full analysis. See also these separate reports on news coverage of the Martin story:

Trayvon Martin Killing Is Public’s Top News Story

How Blogs, Twitter and Mainstream Media Have Handled the Trayvon Martin Case

Based on interviews with 1,033 Muslim Americans conducted this year (April 14-July 22) in English, Arabic, Farsi and Urdu, the wide-ranging report looks at Muslim Americans’ political and social attitudes; religious views and practices; experiences and difficulties faced after 9/11; views of Islamic extremism; views of US efforts at combating terrorism; and views of national conditions. In addition to updating trends from earlier Pew Research surveys, the report includes comparisons of Muslim Americans with the general public and with Muslims in other countries, as well as detailed demographic information.

Read the full report

See a slideshow of the report highlights

View an infographic of report highlights

Map: Controversies Over Mosques and Islamic Centers Across the U.S.

The report, Rising Restrictions on Religion, by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life, finds that restrictions on religious beliefs and practices rose between mid-2006 and mid-2009 in 23 of the world’s 198 countries (12%), decreased in 12 countries (6%) and remained essentially unchanged in 163 countries (82%).

Because several countries with increasing restrictions on religion are very populous, however, the increases affect a much larger share of people than of states. More than 2.2 billion people – nearly a third (32%) of the world’s total population of 6.9 billion – live in countries where either government restrictions on religion or social hostilities involving religion rose substantially over the three-year period studied

While Europe had the largest proportion of countries in which social hostilities related to religion were on the rise from mid-2006 to mid-2009, the study also found that social hostilities involving religion have been rising in Asia, particularly in China, Thailand and Vietnam.

Read the full report and an explanation of the methodology at pewforum.org

As the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War approaches, most Americans say the war between the North and South is still relevant to American politics and public life today.

More than half of Americans (56%) say the Civil War is still relevant, according to the latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted March 30-April 3 among 1,507 adults. Nearly four-in-ten (39%) say the Civil War is important historically but has little current relevance.

In a nation that has long endured deep racial divisions, the history of that era still elicits some strong reactions. Nearly half of the public (46%) says it is inappropriate for today’s public officials to praise the leaders of the Confederate states during the war; 36% say such statements are appropriate.

Nonetheless, a majority (58%) say they have no particular reaction to the Confederate flag, the symbol of the South. Among those who have a reaction to the flag, more than three times as many say they have a negative reaction as a positive reaction (30% to 9%).

There is no consensus among the public about the primary cause of the Civil War, but more (48%) say that the war was mainly about states’ rights than say it was mainly about slavery (38%). Another 9% volunteer that it was about both equally.

Young people are more likely than older Americans to say that the war’s main cause was states’ rights — 60% of those younger than age 30 express this view, the highest percentage of any age group. Those ages 65 and older are the only age group in which more say that slavery, rather than states’ rights, was the main cause of the Civil War (by 50% to 34%). While 48% of whites view states’ rights was the war’s main cause, so too do 39% of African Americans.

Sense of Southern Identity

On some, but not all, issues relating to the Civil War, the views of whites who identify as Southerners differ significantly from those who do not.

About a quarter of all whites (24%) consider themselves Southerners; 75% do not.

Nearly half of self-described Southern whites (49%) see states’ rights as the war’s main cause; among whites who do not consider themselves Southerners, a comparable percentage (48%) also says states’ rights was the war’s main cause. However, self-described Southern whites are more likely than other whites to view praise by politicians for Confederate leaders as appropriate and to have a positive reaction to displays of the Confederate flag.

Less Positive View of Politicians Praising Confederates

The public expresses a less positive view of politicians praising Confederate leaders than it did a decade ago. In a January 2001 Gallup survey, 50% said they thought it was appropriate for public officials to praise the leaders of the Confederate states in the Civil War; 40% said such praise was inappropriate.

In the new survey, more think that politicians’ statements praising Confederate leaders are inappropriate rather than appropriate (by 49% to 36%).

Whites who consider themselves Southerners are the only group in which substantially more view public officials’ praise for Confederate leaders as appropriate rather than inappropriate (52% to 32%). A plurality of all whites (49%) — and a clear majority of African Americans (60%) — say it is inappropriate for public officials to praise Confederate leaders.

About six-in-ten (59%) among those with at least a college degree also say praising leaders of the former Confederate states is inappropriate, while 30% say they do not have a problem with that. Those with a high school diploma or less are divided (42% appropriate, 41% inappropriate).

Racial Differences in Reactions to Confederate Flag

Only a small number of Americans say they display the Confederate flag, but that symbol of the Southern cause elicits more negative reactions from some groups — especially African Americans, Democrats and the highly educated. Nevertheless, most Americans say they do not react positively or negatively when they see the Confederate flag.

Fewer than one-in-ten (8%) say they display the Confederate flag in places such as their home or office, on their car or on their clothing; 91% say they do not. The number that displays the Confederate flag is just a small fraction of the 75% who say they display the American flag in their homes or offices, on their cars or their clothing.

Far more African Americans than whites have a negative reaction to the Confederate flag (41% to 29%). Still, about as many blacks have no reaction (45%) as a negative reaction to the Confederate flag. Among whites, 61% have no reaction.

Whites who consider themselves Southerners have a more positive reaction to the Confederate flag than do other whites: 22% say they react positively when they see the Confederate flag displayed, compared with 8% of all whites and just 4% of whites who do not consider themselves Southerners.

Nearly half of those with at least a college degree (46%) say they have a negative reaction to the display of the Confederate flag, compared with a third (33%) of those with some college experience and just 18% of those with a high school diploma or less.

There also are partisan differences in reactions to the flag: about twice as many Democrats (44%) as Republicans (21%) react negatively to displays of the Confederate flag. And Republicans are more likely than Democrats to have a positive reaction to the flag (15% vs. 7%).

Find the survey methodology and topline questionnaire at people-press.org

Executive Summary

The national political backlash against illegal immigration has created new divisions among Latinos and heightened their concerns about discrimination against members of their ethnic group — including those who were born in the United States or who immigrated legally.

About four-in-five of the nation’s estimated 11.1 million unauthorized immigrants are of Hispanic origin. A new national survey by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center, finds that Latinos are divided over what to do with these immigrants.

A small majority (53%) says they should pay a fine but not be deported. A small minority (13%) says they should be deported, and a larger minority (28%) says they should not be punished.

Hispanics are also divided about the impact of illegal immigration on Hispanics already living in the U.S. Roughly equal shares say the impact has been positive (29%), negative (31%) or made no difference (30%). This mixed judgment stands in sharp contrast to views that Latinos expressed on this subject in 2007. Back then, fully half (50%) of Latinos said the impact was positive, while just 20% said it was negative.¹

Today, more than six-in-ten (61%) Latinos say that discrimination against Hispanics is a “major problem,” up from 54% who said that in 2007. Asked to state the most important factor leading to discrimination, a plurality of 36% now cites immigration status, up from a minority of 23% who said the same in 2007. Back then, a plurality of respondents (46%) identified language skills as the biggest cause of discrimination against Hispanics.

In the new survey, Latinos are also split over whether immigrant and native-born Latinos are working together to achieve common political goals. About half (45%) say they are, and half (46%) say they are not. Both the native born (who comprise 47% of the adult Latino population) and the foreign born (who comprise 53%) are roughly equally divided on their perceptions of political solidarity.

The native born and foreign born have different views on many topics explored in the survey. For example, seven-in-ten (70%) foreign-born Latinos say discrimination against Hispanics is a major problem preventing Latinos from succeeding in America. Less than half (49%) of the native born agree. And when it comes to their views of immigrants, about seven-in-ten native-born Hispanics say immigrants strengthen the country, while 85% of immigrant Hispanics say the same.

At 47 million strong, Latinos are the nation’s largest minority group, comprising nearly 15% of the total U.S. population. Some 38% of all Latinos are immigrants, and an estimated 19% are unauthorized immigrants.

The findings are from a new national survey of 1,375 Latino adults conducted by landline and cellular telephone, in English and Spanish, from Aug. 17 through Sept. 19, 2010. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.3 percentage points for the full sample and larger for subgroups. For details on the survey methodology, see Appendix A in the full report (PDF).

While the survey finds differences among Latinos on several questions related to illegal immigration, it also finds many points of broad agreement — especially when it comes to enforcement policies and proposals.

For example, fully 86% of Latinos support providing a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants if they pass background checks, pay a fine and have jobs, a level of support far greater than among the general public (68%). Among Latinos, about eight-in-ten (82%) of the native born and nine-in-ten (90%) of the foreign born say they support providing a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

On birthright citizenship, nearly eight-in-ten (78%) Latinos say the Constitution should be left as is, compared with 56% of the general public who say the same. And when it comes to who should enforce the nation’s immigration laws, more than three-quarters (77%) of Latinos say it should be the exclusive responsibility of federal authorities, while just 15% say the local police should play a more active role. On both questions, the native born and the foreign born hold similar views.

Finally, the vast majority of Latinos (79%) disapprove of the first-of-its-kind Arizona law enacted this year that gives police broad powers to check the immigration status of people they stop for other reasons whom they suspect may be in this country illegally.² By contrast, the general population approves of the measure by a ratio of two-to-one.

No Increase in Reports of Discrimination

Despite Latinos’ rising concerns about suffering from a backlash triggered by illegal immigration, the new survey finds no increase over past years in the share of Latinos who report that they or someone they know have been targets of discrimination or have been stopped by the authorities and asked about their immigration status.

About a third of all Hispanics (34%) say they, a member of their family or a close friend have experienced discrimination in the past five years because of their race or ethnic group. The figure is largely unchanged from 2009, when it stood at 32%. And just 5% say they have been stopped by the police or other authorities and asked about their immigration status, down from 9% who said the same in 2008.

More Satisfied with the Nation’s Direction and Their Lives

Moreover, more than a third of all Hispanics (36%) say they are satisfied with the current overall direction of the country, up from 25% who said the same in 2008. On this question, Hispanics are more upbeat than all Americans. Only about a quarter (25%) of the general public said in late summer they were satisfied with the way things in the country were going.

When it comes to their own lives, Latinos are generally upbeat. Nearly seven-in-ten rate the quality of their lives as either “excellent” (24%) or “good” (45%), virtually unchanged from three years ago.

Among the survey’s other findings:

Views of Immigrants

• Hispanics are more positive than all Americans about the impact of immigrants on the nation. Nearly eight-in-ten Hispanics (78%) say immigrants to the U.S. strengthen the country, while 13% believe these new arrivals are a burden. In contrast, all Americans are split — 44% say immigrants are a strength and 42% say they are a burden.
• Half (49%) of all Hispanics say that Americans are less accepting of immigrants now than they were five years ago. One-in-five (20%) believe Americans are more accepting, and 28% say they see no change.
• More than eight-in-ten (81%) Latinos say opportunity is better in the U.S. than in their home countries or the countries of their ancestors. This share is down from 92% in 1999.
• Three-in-ten (30%) Latinos say that one of the reasons unauthorized immigrants come to the U.S. is to have a child here; 64% say this is not the case.

Discrimination and Deportation

• Half (52%) of Latinos say they worry “a lot” or “some” that they, a family member or a close friend could be deported.
• Foreign-born Hispanics are more than twice as likely as native-born Hispanics to say they worry that they or someone they know could be deported — 68% vs. 32%.
• One-third (32%) of Latinos say they know someone who has been deported or detained by the federal government in the past 12 months.
• Some 45% of foreign-born Latinos who are not U.S. citizens or legal residents say they know someone who has been detained or deported by the federal government in the past 12 months. Fewer than three-in-ten (28%) of native-born Latinos say the same.

Views of Immigration Policy

• Fully 78% of Latinos say they support in-state tuition rates for unauthorized immigrant students who graduate from a high school in their state and have been accepted into a public college or university.
• Nearly three-in-four (73%) Latinos say they disapprove of workplace raids, unchanged from 2007 and 2008.
• More than six-in-ten (61%) Hispanics say they disapprove of building more fences on the nation’s borders.
• Latinos are split on whether the number of border patrol agents should be increased — 48% say they approve of this idea, while 46% say they disapprove.
• A majority (58%) of Hispanics say they approve of a proposal that would require all U.S. residents to carry a national identity card.

Politics, the Immigration Policy Debate and Civic Participation

• The issue of immigration is not a top issue for all Hispanics. On a list of seven issues, it ranks fourth, behind education, jobs and health care.
• More than six-in-ten (62%) Latinos say they have talked with a family member, friend or co-worker about the immigration policy debate in the past year.
• Half (51%) of Latinos say they have more confidence in the Democratic Party’s agenda on immigration than in the Republican Party’s agenda, while 19% say they have more confidence in the Republican agenda on immigration.
• One-in-seven (15%) Hispanics say that in the past year they have participated in a protest or demonstration in support of immigration rights, down from 24% who said the same in 2006.

Continue reading and download the full report at pewhispanic.org.

<sub>1. A slightly different question was asked three years ago. In 2007, survey respondents were asked about the impact of the “growing number of undocumented or illegal immigrants” on Latinos in the U.S. In 2010, since the number of unauthorized immigrants residing in the U.S. has fallen (Passel and Cohn, 2010), the question instead asked about the effect of “undocumented or illegal immigration.”
2. Implementation of many parts of the new law has been stayed pending a hearing on a lawsuit brought by the federal government, which contends it is unconstitutional.</sub>

Controversies related to Muslim Americans — one sparked by a Florida pastor’s plans to burn the Koran and another by a proposal to build an Islamic community center blocks from Ground Zero — topped the news last week as the country marked the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Plans by Terry Jones, the pastor of a small church in Gainesville, Fla., to mark the Sept. 11 anniversary by burning the Muslim holy book sparked outrage and prompted condemnation by everyone from Gen. David Petraeus to Sarah Palin. Jones eventually relented, but the controversy, and other signs of anti-Muslim sentiment, represented the No. 2 story for the week of Sept. 6-12, filling 15% of the newshole, according to the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. Liberal talk show hosts on radio and cable took a particular interest in the topic.

When combined with the No. 4 story (4%), the furor over a planned Muslim community center and mosque near the World Trade Center site, the two stories accounted for nearly a fifth of the newshole last week, according to PEJ’s News Coverage Index, which calculates the column inches and airtime devoted to stories in a broad sample of news media.

Indeed, attention to those hot-button issues concerning Islam almost completely overshadowed coverage of the Sept. 11 commemorations themselves, which accounted for only 2% of the newshole.

The sputtering economic recovery and proposals to revive it remained the single largest story of the week, accounting for 17% of the newshole. Proposals by President Obama to extend tax cuts for the middle class as well as spending more money on building roads and other infrastructure projects drove the coverage. Stubbornly high levels of unemployment and other economic news also generated headlines.

Closely tied to the economy are the political fortunes of Democrats and Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections, a subject that garnered 12% of the newshole as the No. 3 story last week. Driving the narrative were predictions that the Democrats will suffer at the polls and possibly lose control of one or both chambers of Congress.

Rounding out the top five news topics were stories related to the Obama administration. These included speculation that Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, might leave to run for mayor of Chicago in 2011, as well as discussions of Obama’s leadership. Those subjects represented 3% of the newshole.

Continue reading the full report at journalism.org.

Among eight groups tested, whites and middle-class people are the only groups that majorities say are treated fairly by the press; 57% say that news coverage of whites is generally fair while 56% say the same about coverage of middle-class people.

Notably, about a third (32%) say that coverage of wealthy people is too positive — the highest percentage for any group included in the survey. About as many see coverage of the wealthy as too positive as say it is generally fair (31%).

These are the results of latest weekly News Interest Index survey, conducted Aug. 12-15 among 1,005 adults by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, which also finds that Americans continued to track the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico last week more closely than other major stories. With coverage of the leak down significantly, the public’s high interest likely reflects the perceived importance of the story; 44% say this was the story they followed most closely, while the spill accounted for just 3% of the newshole, according to the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.

The survey also shows that the public is divided over whether news organizations devote too much coverage to race relations in this country. Still, close to half (48%) say the media make relations between the races seem worse than they actually are, while about a quarter (24%) say they reflect race relations as they really are.

Just more than a third (34%) say news organizations give too much attention to race relations, while a comparable 31% say they give these difficult issues too little coverage and 25% say the amount is about right.

African Americans are much more likely than whites to say news organizations give too little attention to race relations (51% vs. 24%), though pluralities in both groups (42% for blacks, 50% for whites) say the media make race relations seem worse than they actually are.

About four-in-ten Democrats (41%) say news organizations give race relations too little coverage, compared with 20% of Republicans and 32% of independents. Republicans, on the other hand, are much more likely to say that race relations get too much coverage (47%), compared with 29% of Democrats and 32% of independents.

Those 18-29 are more likely than other age groups to say that the media gives too little attention to race relations. About half (49%) say this, compared with 18% of those 65 and older. Again, the differences narrow when people are asked to assess the coverage. For example, 41% of those 18-29 say news organizations make race relations seem worse than they are, just about the same as the 44% of those 65 and older who say this.

Press Coverage of Muslims

When assessing news coverage of Muslims, older people are less likely than others to say coverage is too negative — just 24% of those age 65 and over say this, compared with more than four-in-ten of those in younger age groups.

College educated Americans are significantly more likely than those who have not attended college to say media treatment of Muslims is too negative; a majority of those with college experience (53%) say this, compared to just 30% of those with a high school education or less.

And while a 59% majority of Democrats say press coverage of Muslims is too negative, Republican and independent opinion is somewhat more divided. Republicans and independents are about equally likely to say coverage is generally fair (38% of Republicans and 35% of independents) as to say it is too negative (36% of Republicans and 39% of independents).

African Americans See Coverage of Blacks as Too Negative

Nearly six-in-ten African Americans (58%) say that news coverage of blacks is generally too negative. A sizeable minority of whites (31%) also says that blacks are portrayed too negatively in news stories. Still, nearly half of whites (48%) say media treatment of blacks is generally fair (just 28% of blacks say this). African Americans also are more likely than whites to say that media coverage of Hispanics is too negative (48%, compared with 32% of whites).

Pluralities of both blacks (49%) and whites (60%) say that news coverage of whites tends to be fair, while just 16% of whites and 12% of blacks say it is too negative. Blacks are somewhat more likely than whites to say media coverage of whites is too positive, although just 26% of blacks say this (compared with 11% of whites).

There also are substantial partisan differences in these views. Majorities of Democrats say news media coverage of blacks (52%) and Hispanics (52%) is too negative; about two-in-ten Republicans say this about news coverage of each group (22% for both blacks and Hispanics). About a third of independents say press coverage of blacks (35%) and Hispanics (33%) is too negative.

Similarly, Democrats are about twice as likely as Republicans to say news coverage of gays and lesbians is too negative (40% vs. 22%); 30% of independents see coverage of gays as too negative. Younger people also are more likely than older people to say portrayals of gays and lesbians in the press are too negative; 36% of those younger than 50 say this, compared to 27% of 50 to 64 year olds and just 19% of those age 65 and older.

Coverage of Wealthy, Middle-Class and Poor

Republicans and Democrats offer differing views of coverage of people at every income level. Nearly a third of Republicans (32%) say coverage of the wealthy is too negative, about the same number who say it is generally fair (33%); 24% of Republicans say press coverage of wealthy people is too positive.

By contrast, Democrats are substantially more likely than Republicans to say press coverage of the affluent is too positive (37%), while just 21% say it is too negative. Independent views of coverage of wealthy people mirror those of Democrats.

While majorities of Republicans (55%), Democrats (65%) and independents (54%) say news coverage of the middle class is generally fair, Republicans (31%) and independents (27%) are more likely than Democrats (17%) to say the media is too negative in its treatment of middle class people.

A clear majority of Democrats (61%) say the media is too negative in its coverage of the poor; 46% of independents and just 28% of Republicans say this.

The Week’s News

Public attention to the major oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico has yet to drop off as significantly as media coverage. Currently, 39% say they followed news about the leak very closely last week, not much different from the 42% that said this one week earlier. Still, that is down sharply from 59% in the July 22-25 survey. More than four-in-ten (44%) say this was the story they followed most closely last week.

The oil leak accounted for 3% of the coverage measured by PEJ, down from 11% one week earlier. With the underground well largely sealed, coverage has declined greatly since a peak of 44% of the newshole in mid-June.

More than a quarter (27%) say they followed news about the immigration debate very closely last week, while 12% say this was the news they followed most closely. News about immigration made up 4% of the newshole.

Two-in-ten (20%) say they followed news about this year’s congressional elections very closely, while 5% say this was the news they followed most closely. News about the elections, including several hotly contested primaries, proved to be the most covered news of the week, accounting for 15% of coverage.

Fewer than two-in-ten (17%) say they followed news about recent ups and down in the stock market very closely; 6% say this was the news they followed most closely. News about the financial markets accounted for 2% of coverage. Economic news more generally — including the market fluctuations — accounted for 12% of coverage, according to PEJ, making it the second most reported news of the week.

Just 8% say they very closely followed news about the floods in Pakistan; 1% say this was the story they followed most closely. The flooding accounted for 1% of coverage.

And 7% say they very closely followed news about the Alaska plane crash that killed former Sen. Ted Stevens; 3% say this was the news they followed most closely. The crash accounted for 5% of coverage.

Other Stories — Flight Attendant Saga Resonates

More than four-in-ten Americans (43%) say they heard a lot last week about the dramatic exit by JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater from his plane at New York’s Kennedy Airport after an argument with a passenger. A quarter (25%) say they heard a little about how Slater had quit his job, opened the plane door and hopped on the emergency exit chute. About three-in-ten (31%) say they heard nothing at all about this story.

Fewer say they heard a lot (30%) about controversies over plans for mosques in several U.S. cities. Debate over building a mosque near the World Trade Center site in New York City continued to generate controversy this week, especially after a series of comments by President Obama about the issue over the weekend. About three-in-ten (29%) say they heard a little about this issue, while 41% say they had heard nothing at all. Close to four-in-ten Republicans (38%) say they heard a lot about this, compared with 28% of Democrats; 30% of independents say they heard a lot as well.

Just more than two-in-ten (22%) say they heard a lot about the debate about changing the Constitution so that children of non-citizens born in the United States would no longer automatically be U.S. citizens. Another 37% heard a little about this debate, while 40% say they heard nothing at all. On this, there are no significant differences among partisans.

Awareness of that story was similar to awareness of news about the arrest of a man suspected of stabbing as many as 20 people. About two-in-ten (21%) say they heard a lot about this story, 36% say they heard a little and 43% say they had heard nothing at all.

These findings are based on the most recent installment of the weekly News Interest Index, an ongoing project of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. The index, building on the Center’s longstanding research into public attentiveness to major news stories, examines news interest as it relates to the news media’s coverage. The weekly survey is conducted in conjunction with The Project for Excellence in Journalism’s News Coverage Index, which monitors the news reported by major newspaper, television, radio and online news outlets on an ongoing basis. In the most recent week, data relating to news coverage were collected Aug. 9-15, and survey data measuring public interest in the top news stories of the week were collected Aug. 12-15, from a nationally representative sample of 1,005 adults.

View the topline and survey methodology at people-press.org.