Gas Prices Grab the Public’s Attention
Interest in news about inflation at the pump goes beyond learning where to find the cheapest gallon and extends to impacts on the national economy.
Public Chows Down on Pet Food Recall
The recall of more than 100 brands of pet food due to possible contamination was the second most closely followed news story last week. Only events in Iraq attracted more public interest.
Blacksburg Tragedy Draws Close Public Attention, but Less Than Columbine Did Eight Years Ago
Fully 45% of Americans paid very close attention to the Va. Tech shootings but more than two-thirds of Americans (68%) paid very close attention to the Columbine incident in 1999.
Events in Iraq Top Don Imus in News Interest
The war in Iraq continued to attract broad public attention, despite drawing far less news coverage than the Imus flap. Overall, 26% of Americans cited the war as the story they followed most closely, compared with 20% who followed the Imus story most closely.
Iraq Tops News Interest – and Anna Holds Her Own
While the media focused more on British sailors held in Iran and the US attorneys scandal, news from Iraq remains the public’s clear priority. The core Anna Nicole Smith audience remains as large as in February, despite far more limited press coverage.
Solid Majority Favors Congressional Troop Deadline
40% now say the situation in Iraq is going fairly or very well but nearly six in ten want their representative to vote for a withdrawal deadline and only 36% think the U.S. troop buildup will work.
Anna Nicole Audience Praises Press Coverage
Even though most Americans (61%) think Anna Nicole Smith’s death has been over-covered, the press gets high marks from that portion of the public (more than a third) who are following the story closely. Two-thirds of this group rate the coverage as good or excellent – better marks than the press receives from the audiences of any of the other top stories of the past week. This is in line with poll findings about previous tabloid stories: their core audiences think the press does a great job of covering them.
Too Much Anna Nicole, But the Saga Attracts an Audience
Comparisons between Pew’s new gauge of public interest in the week’s news and the PEJ’s News Coverage Index find the public and the press often in agreement about the most important news stories.
