---
title: "News Interest Index"
description: "Report Summary News about the drug wars, international and domestic, dominated the American consciousness in September in a way that no other issue did. There was extensive public attentiveness, significant public understanding, and few complaints about the amount of press coverage devoted to the story:"
date: "1989-09-11"
authors:
  - name: "Pew Research Center"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/1989/09/11/news-interest-index-3/"
categories:
  - "News Coverage"
---

# News Interest Index

## Report Summary

News about the drug wars, international and domestic, dominated the American consciousness in September in a way that no other issue did. There was extensive public attentiveness, significant public understanding, and few complaints about the amount of press coverage devoted to the story: