U.S. Catholics Happy with Pope Selection
Nearly three-quarters of U.S. Catholics say they are happy with the selection of Pope Francis. But they are divided over how big a change he represents for the church.
Views of the Catholic Church’s Problems and Contributions
U.S. Catholics see sex abuse as the church’s most important problem and charity as its most important contribution.
Economy, Weiner Top Public’s News Interests
Mitt Romney is clearly the candidate the public says they are hearing the most news about, while mentions of Sarah Palin have plummeted over the past two weeks.
Most Say Political Sex Scandals Due to Greater Scrutiny, Not Lower Morality
A 57%-majority says elected officials just get caught more often because they are under greater scrutiny. About two-in-ten (19%), on the other hand, say elected officials have lower moral standards than ordinary Americans.
Weiner Scandal Tops the News
Anthony Weiner’s media coverage was more than double the attention devoted to President Obama.
When Private Lives Become Public
Generally, the issues matter most in voters’ judgments about presidential candidates, but personality, character and values are not far behind — and especially so in primary elections.
Churches in Court
American religious institutions have been at the center of many legal controversies in recent years. These and related lawsuits raise complex constitutional questions that have been troubling American courts for more than a century. Are legal disputes involving churches and other religious institutions constitutionally different from those involving their secular counterparts, and if so, how?
Religion in the News: 2010
Though still small in volume, mainstream media coverage of religion in 2010 doubled over the preceding year. Events and controversies related to Islam — especially a proposed Islamic center in New York City — dominated coverage, bumping the Catholic Church from the top spot.
The Story of Shirley Sherrod: Reconstruction of a Media Mess
A media analysis of the Shirley Sherrod story traces how the story evolved and played out in the media in that frantic period between the July 19 release of the video and the July 21 apologies to Sherrod from Gibbs and Vilsack as well as Fox News host Bill O’Reilly.
The Pope Meets the Press
Newspaper coverage of the Catholic clergy sexual abuse scandal grew more intense this spring than at any time since 2002, and European newspapers devoted even more ink to the story than American papers did, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center.
