Lessons from the 2008 Pew Global Attitudes Survey
Pew Research Center president Andrew Kohut, New York Times columnist David Brooks and Foreign Policy editor Moises Naim discuss findings and implications of the new survey.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
The latest Pew Global Attitudes survey finds some encouraging signs for America’s global image for the first time this decade. Although views of the United States remain negative in much of the world, favorable ratings have increased modestly since 2007 in 10 of 21 countries where comparative data are available. Many people around the world are paying close attention to the U.S. presidential election.
Jeremiah Wright’s media tour drove the campaign narrative last week, generating intense speculation about his motives and the impact on Barack Obama’s candidacy. In an election noted for coverage of gaffes and controversy, no story line has had as much staying power as the minister and the candidate.
For most of the year, the American media have been far more preoccupied with the war in Iraq than with growing tensions between the U.S. and Iran. But last week, a new intelligence report sparked a heated debate over policy toward the leadership in Tehran.
With wins in Ohio and Texas, Hillary Clinton was the top campaign newsmaker last week. The media’s first verdict was that her aggressive attacks succeeded in stopping Barack Obama’s momentum. Their next question was whether Obama was capable of responding in kind.
John McCain and Hillary Clinton both walked away with crucial New Hampshire victories but the Arizona Republican trailed the New York Democrat badly in the battle for media attention. And why the media treated Mike Huckabee’s third-place finish much differently than John Edwards’.
Thanks to Mitt Romney’s big speech on his Mormon faith, the presidential race was the biggest story of the week in the talk universe last week. And while the new intelligence report on Iran sparked a lively debate, the CIA’s destruction of two terror interrogation tapes didn’t generate much interest.
Will Shared Concerns About Iran Promote Compromise?
The two biggest names in talk radio are telling their listeners how to separate the real conservatives from phonies. And some hosts seemed to “cover” the campaign by becoming part of the story.