Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

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November 1, 2007

  • report

    California Wildfires Draw Large Audience

    Summary of Findings The California wildfires overshadowed all other news stories last week both in terms of public interest and news coverage. Four-in-ten Americans followed news about the fires very closely, making it the fourth most closely followed news story of the year. The only stories that have attracted a larger audience this year were […]

  • transcript

    Faith and the Public Dialogue: A Conversation with Sen. John Kerry

    Washington, D.C. The Pew Forum invited Mass. Sen. John Kerry to discuss the propriety of public inquiry into politicians’ religious beliefs and how those beliefs influence candidates’ views on the issues of the day. Kerry, a 2004 presidential candidate, also addressed the role of faith in presidential campaigns, his perspective on religion in the 2008 […]

  • short reads

    What’s Best for the Children?

    That’s the percentage of American adults who say an at-home mother is the ideal situation for children; a nearly identical proportion (41%) say a mother working part-time is ideal.

  • report

    The “Tyrant on Tour” Coverage Tops the News

    Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s speaking trip to New York proved irresistible for the news media last week. But once you got past the hype, the politics, and the First Amendment debate, how much did we learn about Iran?

  • report

    Cancer Research, Vouchers on ’07 Ballots

    Proposals on cancer research and school vouchers are among the questions that voters in seven states will take up during this fall’s quiet election season.

  • report

    Always format your used laptops

    Say what you will about the internet–it’s certainly helped narrow the line between “doing something stupid” and “doing something stupid in front of millions of witnesses who will now proceed to publicly mock you.”

  • report

    Publisher Murdoch’s U.S. Track Record

    With the drawn-out approval of Rupert Murdoch's bid for the Wall Street Journal finally in, attention turns to what he will make of the paper. Starting back in the early 70’s the global media magnate began investing in a series of American newspapers. How did those publications do? Here’s a scorecard.

  • report

    Closing the Broadband Divide

    When you look at the data on Americans without broadband at home, it suggests it will take time to get these holdouts off the digital sidelines.