Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
I. Introduction The Internet is not only one of the most rapidly disseminating technologies in history, it is also—to a degree different from other mass communications technologies—rapidly evolving as it disseminates. Today’s new adopters of the Internet face a range of options undreamed of by their predecessors of just a few years ago. With higher […]
The Public’s Mood Mellows Satisfaction with the state of the nation is down slightly over the past 12 months, though still high relative to the early 1990s. In the current survey, 47% of citizens say they are satisfied with the way things are going in the country, down from recent highs of 56% in August […]
Section 1: Americans want a privacy guarantee Privacy has emerged as a central policy concern about the Internet as more Americans go online every day – and recent weeks have brought a ceaseless number of new allegations about privacy violations by Internet companies. In the past three months, a series of events have heightened sensitivities. […]
Might-Miss TV? Just one-in-ten Americans (13%) plan to watch all or most of the television coverage of the GOP convention, while another 28% say they’ll watch some of it. Older Americans are both more interested in the convention and more apt to watch the television coverage. But even among Republicans, there is scant interest in […]
The decline in the number of Americans who say they enjoy the news is a continuation of a long-term trend. In 1995, a majority (54%) said they enjoyed keeping up with the news a lot. That number fell to 50% in 1998 and 45% this year. While Americans remain generally satisfied with the quality of […]
Part 1: How email is changing women’s lives “What’s most memorable about my family email? Just daily contacts and sharing cards, stories, etc. We have exchanged everything from birthday information to medical situations to pick-me-ups to drab daily things.” — A 39-year-old woman describes the role of email in her life In the past six […]
Bush Bounces Back In the presidential race, key voting groups continue to shift back and forth between Bush and Gore, as the public is clearly having difficulty making up its mind about this contest. Some of the gains Gore made in the immediate aftermath of the primary season have since been reversed. Senior citizens rallied […]
Issues Edge For Gore Gore not only has improved his image, he holds a commanding lead over Bush as the candidate best able to handle most major policy issues. The vice president out-polls Bush on nine of 15 issues tested. The biggest gaps come on traditional Democratic issues, such as improving conditions for minority groups […]
Introduction and Summary Most Americans continue to support free trade, in spite of last fall’s destructive protests in Seattle against the World Trade Organization (WTO). But the public wants international trade agreements to protect jobs and economic growth at home, and improve the global environment. And while the nation backs free trade in principle, there […]
Fewer Turn To Broadcast TV and Papers While television continues to be the principal source of campaign news for a large majority of Americans, the percentage of people relying on either network (24%) or local television (25%) to keep up with the campaign has fallen over the past four years (down from 39% and 34%, […]