Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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.
The economy topped the news for the sixth straight week, while a string of tragedies—the death of a top diplomat, the suicide of Bernie Madoff’s son, and the suicide of an unstable Florida gunman—also made headlines. And health care, after months of absence, returned to the news in a significant way.
Attention to the crucial midterm congressional elections reached new heights last week, accounting for nearly half the overall news coverage. The top stories also included the economy, a new terror plot, the conflict in Afghanistan and fresh revelations about the BP oil disaster that dominated coverage in the summer.
Most Americans say they enjoy keeping up with the news, but the proportion saying they enjoy following the news a lot has declined. Currently 45% say they enjoy following the news a lot, while 36% say they enjoy this a little and 18% say not much or not at all. In each of the past […]
Partisan affiliation has shifted in small but important ways several times over the past two decades, with several politically consequential changes occurring the in past few years. After holding a 10-percentage point advantage in party identification among registered voters in 2008 and 2009, the Democratic Party now has only a five-point lead in 2010. Fewer […]