Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Politics

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    Financial Woes Now Overshadow All Other Concerns for Journalists

    Summary of Findings The financial crisis facing news organizations is so grave that it is now overshadowing concerns about the quality of news coverage, the flagging credibility of the news media, and other problems that have been very much on the minds of journalists over the past decade. An ever larger majority of journalists at […]

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    What Foreign Policy Agenda?

    Issues have hardly played a dominant role in the nominating races, especially on the Democratic side. Still, the public has a clear domestic agenda for the next president. Fix the economy, reduce health care costs, improve the environment, reform education, deal with rising energy costs and so on. This hearty appetite for an assertive domestic […]

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    Public Closely Tracking Details of Campaign

    Summary of Findings Not only are Americans following election news in record numbers this year, they are tracking the details of the campaign — the charges, countercharges and controversial advertisements — extremely closely. Large majorities say they have heard at least something about rumors that Barack Obama is a Muslim; Hillary Clinton’s 3:00 a.m. phone […]

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    Awareness of Iraq War Fatalities Plummets

    Summary of Findings What’s Your News IQ? Take the LatestQuiz Public awareness of the number of American military fatalities in Iraq has declined sharply since last August. Today, just 28% of adults are able to say that approximately 4,000 Americans have died in the Iraq war. As of March 10, the Department of Defense had […]

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    Just 28% Say Media Going Easy on Obama

    Summary of Findings As is often the case, voters say they would like to see more coverage of the candidates’ positions on the issues and less coverage of which candidate is leading in the latest polls. More than three-quarters of the public (78%) would like to see more coverage of the candidates’ positions on domestic […]

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    Public Sends Mixed Signals on Energy Policy

    Summary of Findings At a time of rising energy prices, the public continues to be conflicted in its overall approach toward energy and the environment. A majority of Americans say that developing new sources of energy, rather than protecting the environment, is the more important priority for the country. However, when asked specifically about energy […]

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    Getting to Know Them

    If they turn out to be their party’s nominees, both Barack Obama and John McCain need to educate voters about themselves in some pretty basic, and challenging, ways. The Democratic candidate has to give voters a better sense of what he stands for, and the Republican candidate has to assure members of his own party […]