Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

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2007

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    Nature, Crime, and Politics Challenge Iraq in the News

    The continuing debate over the president’s strategy for Iraq kept that subject atop PEJ’s News Coverage Index for the week of January 14-19. But the tale of kidnapped Missouri boys, a nasty blast of winter, and the Barack Obama bandwagon also generated major coverage in a busy and varied news week.

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    ‘Surge’ Count

    That’s the number of times the word “surge” appeared in media stories about President Bush’s plan for increasing U.S. troop levels in Iraq, according to a database search for the week of Jan 10-Jan 17 conducted by the Project for Excellence in Journalism. That frequency was close to double the number that used the word “escalate” or “escalation” (10,112).

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    Evangelical Support for Stem Cell Research

    That’s the percentage of white evangelicals who express support for continuing stem cell research. Although less than half still oppose such research, the latest number represents a 12-point increase over the past year and is easily the highest level of support recorded among evangelicals in the past five years.

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    Seeking a Home Online

    That’s the percentage of internet users who have looked online for information about a place to live – double the overall number of Americans who had done so in 2000.

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    Talk Shows Battle it Out Over the “Surge” Strategy

    While the President’s plan to commit 22,000 more troops to Iraq dominated the media agenda last week, it was an even bigger story in the radio and cable talk show universe, according to the first edition of the new PEJ Talk Show Index. From Rush Limbaugh to Keith Olbermann, talk hosts across the political spectrum weighed in on the surge, mirroring the raging debate in Washington and throughout the country.

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    Lethal Injection on Trial

    Already effectively on hold in 12 states, the death penalty will come under further attack in state legislatures and courts this year. In particular, lethal injection, once seen as a more humane alternative to the gas chamber, electric chair, firing squad or gallows now faces serious challenges.

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    Election 2006 Online

    A new poll finds the number of Americans who got most of their information about the 2006 campaign on the internet doubled from the 2002 mid-term election, and many used the web to become politically involved.

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    The internet and campaign 2006

    The number of Americans who cited the internet as their primary source of campaign news in 2006 doubled since the last mid-term election Twice as many Americans used the internet as their primary source of news about the 2006 campaign compared with the most recent mid-term election in 2002. Some 15% of all American adults […]

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    Election 2006 Online

    Twice as many Americans used the internet as their primary source of news about the 2006 campaign compared with the most recent mid-term election in 2002.

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    Broad Opposition to Bush’s Iraq Plan

    Summary of Findings President Bush’s plan to send roughly 21,000 additional troops to Iraq has drawn broad opposition from the American public. If anything, the plan has triggered increased partisan polarization on the debate over what to do in Iraq. While most Republicans support Bush’s initiative, Democrats overwhelmingly oppose it, and a solid majority of […]