Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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Report Summary Fewer people are reading newspapers and watching network television news these days. It is unclear whether this is a continuation of the long-term decline in audiences of both media, or whether it is a result of the O.J. Simpson trial, which has gripped the attention of a significant percentage of core news consumers.
Summary On the occasion of our transition from Times Mirror Center for the People and the Press to the Pew Research Center, we offer an overview of what we have learned during the past five years about the news stories that are followed closely by the public and how much Americans know about current events. […]
Report Summary Melodramatic court trials carried on television recently have enjoyed huge audiences in the United States, a new nationwide Times Mirror survey found. Fully 43% of the American public have watched at least four of five of the most sensational trials aired on TV within the past few years. The survey also suggests that […]
Network TV News Credibility Slips In a separate survey by the Center, the public perception of the believability of two network news anchors eroded significantly, as did the believability of two news networks, compared to three years ago. Tom Brokaw, NBC News, and CBS News were the exceptions, experiencing only statistically insignificant decreases in this […]
Introduction and Summary Television news is in trouble with the American public. Fewer adults are regularly watching it these days. Viewership of nightly network news is particularly hard hit. Fewer than half the public (42%) now says it regularly watches one of the three nightly network broadcasts — down from 48% in 1995 and 60% […]
Introduction and Summary Religion is a strong and growing force in the way Americans think about politics. It has a bearing on political affiliation, political values, policy attitudes and candidate choice. Its increasing influence on political opinion and behavior rivals factors such as race, region, age, social class and gender. More specifically, religion has a […]