President Obama’s statement on May 9 that “same-sex couples should be able to get married” garnered significant public and media attention. Reports about Obama’sendorsement of gay marriage accounted for 14% of major news organizations’ coverage over the course of that week, equal to the amount of coverage given to the election contest and nearly double […]
About This Study A number of people at the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism worked on PEJ’s “The Final Days of the Media Campaign 2012.” Director Tom Rosenstiel, Deputy Director Amy Mitchell, Associate Director Mark Jurkowitz and senior researcher Paul Hitlin wrote the report. Paul Hitlin supervised the content analysis components. Additional […]
Voter engagement in this year’s presidential election is lower than in 2008, but on par with, or higher than, levels at a similar point in the previous four election cycles. Two-thirds (67%) of registered voters say they are giving quite a lot of thought to the election. This is down somewhat from 2008 (72%), but […]
The number of political independents has continued to grow, as both parties have lost ground among the public. Based on surveys conducted this year, 38% describe themselves as independents, up from 32% in 2008 and 30% in 2004. The proportion of independents is now higher than at any point in more than two decades. Looking […]
Who counts as a Muslim, and who does not? Which beliefs and practices are Islamic, and which are not? Many Muslims across the globe hold firm views on such questions. Asked, for example, whether there is only one true way to interpret Islam’s teachings or whether multiple interpretations are possible, half or more of the […]
The United States continues to be a highly religious nation. Most Americans say they belong to a particular faith and large percentages agree with statements about key religious beliefs and behaviors. About three-quarters of the public (76%) say prayer is an important part of their daily life, while an identical percentage agrees that “we will […]