Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
The public’s views of the Republican Party are little changed from September, before the party’s gains in the midterm election. Currently, 41% have a favorable opinion of the GOP while 52% have an unfavorable opinion. In September, 43% had a favorable view of the Republican Party and 49% had an unfavorable view. Views of the […]
If President Obama expected his State of the Union address to dominate the media narrative last week, those plans went awry when turmoil in a crucial Mideast ally threatened to remake the region and challenge U.S. strategy. And while coverage of the economy picked up last week, attention to the Tucson shooting plunged.
An overwhelming majority of voters (88%) report having seen or heard commercials for candidates running for office so far this year. This is comparable to the 89% of voters who said they had seen or heard campaign commercials at roughly the same point in the 2006 midterm cycle. Today, more than half of voters (56%) […]
The top subjects for bloggers last week involved Washington-centric stories, but not the one that galvanized much of the mainstream media. The lead subject on Twitter was about online news judgment. And on YouTube, an eight-month-old clip featuring remarks by talk host Glenn Beck became the subject of a debate about inflammatory speech.
As has been the case all year, voters’ preferences in the midterm elections remain divided. But for the first time, slightly more registered voters say they will vote for the Republican candidate in their district, or lean Republican, than say they will support a Democrat or lean Democratic (46% vs. 42%). In early September, 44% […]
The online rhetoric heated up last week as bloggers from the left and right responded to statements from two controversial GOP figures. On Twitter, users marveled over an unorthodox space launch while on YouTube, the subject of UFOs was front and center.
The first big East Coast snowstorm of the winter season beat out the economy and domestic terrorism as the top story last week, according to a special web news edition of PEJ’s weekly News Coverage Index. And defeated Delaware Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell, a magnet for media coverage during the 2010 campaign, returned to the spotlight, but not on the most flattering of terms.
The blogosphere resembled one of those old CNN Crossfire shows last week as liberals and conservatives frequently faced off on such issues as federal assistance programs, charges of bigotry and opposition to President Obama.
The January 8 Arizona assault stunned the nation and became one of the biggest stories in recent years. A PEJ analysis of mainstream and social media coverage and commentary reveals which element of the story made the most news, whether President Obama’s speech changed the narrative, how Sarah Palin was covered and how much attention the issue of gun control generated.