Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Several big events vied for the attention of the media last week. But for the second time in two months, a major overseas presidential foray topped the news agenda when it demonstrated Barack Obama’s dramatically different approach to foreign policy.
Overview Public attitudes on a pair of contentious national issues – gun control and abortion – have moved in a more conservative direction over the past year. In both cases, the changes have been driven in part by relatively large shifts among men, while opinions among women have not changed very much. For the first […]
Summary of Findings Americans divided their attention among several major stories last week as President Obama reached out to the Muslim world in a major speech, a jetliner crashed into the Atlantic Ocean and General Motors filed for bankruptcy protection. At the same time, they continued to keep a close watch on news about the […]
The economy, a hate crime, health care and Detroit’s problems all competed for attention in last week’s news landscape. But a presidential vote in Iran commanded much of the late-week coverage, as the press focused on a nation it often tends to ignore.
Overview Americans are extremely displeased with Congress, and there are already some signs that this could take a toll on the Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections. Currently, 37% express a favorable opinion of Congress, while 52% hold an unfavorable view. Positive opinions of Congress have declined by 13 points since April and are now […]
A new poll by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life finds that while most Catholics who have heard about the issue support President Barack Obama’s visit to Notre Dame, deep divisions exist between the most-observant Catholics and those who are less observant. These two groups also are divided over their assessment […]
Updated Sept. 9, 2009 On Feb. 5, 2009, two weeks after taking office, President Barack Obama signed an executive order establishing the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The new office retains the basic administrative structure of President George W. Bush’s White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. The central White House […]
If the press corps in Washington aimed at the American public in general is shrinking, and the one aimed at self-defined specialized groups is growing, what does that mean about the kind of monitoring of government the press engages in? And how might that change how public opinion is formed and shaped, and does that […]