Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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When asked how much various religions resemble their own, the public cites Protestantism and Catholicism as the faiths most like theirs. Overall, more than four-in-ten non- Protestants in the survey (44%) say that the Protestant religion and their own faith are similar (including 12% saying they are very similar), slightly more than say Protestantism and […]
The U.S. unemployment rate jumped, the Afghan runoff election was cancelled and the House of Representatives passed a health care bill last week. But those stories all took a back seat to coverage of the killing spree at Fort Hood Texas, which quickly became a story about Islam and possibly, terrorism.
The arrest of Roman Polanski dominated the blogosphere last week, with online commentators overwhelmingly condemning the filmmaker for the crime he committed three decades ago. And a CNN sparring match between anchor Wolf Blitzer and filmmaker Michael Moore was among the week’s most viewed YouTube news videos.
For the first week all year, health care was the leading topic of conversation among bloggers. And it was an often contentious conversation as liberals and conservatives accused each other of spreading untruths—and sometimes worse. On Twitter, technology-focused stories led the agenda as Iran dropped out of the top story list for the first time since the disputed June 12 elections.
The fight over health care legislation continued to dominate the news, but with a narrative twist that was tough on Barack Obama. And a crucial election kept the spotlight on Afghanistan, a conflict increasingly showing up in the headlines.
Broad-based Decline in Support for Legal Abortion Recently, Americans have become more opposed to legal abortion. New analysis of combined Pew Research Center surveys conducted over the past three years shows that in 2007 and 2008, supporters of abortion rights clearly outnumbered opponents of abortion (those saying it should be illegal in most or all […]
The economic crisis topped the news agenda last week as Wall Street pay packages triggered anger and action in Washington. Agreement on a runoff election also generated a spike in Afghanistan coverage, and hostilities between the White House and Fox News made the roster of top stories.
America’s ratings have risen north of the border, but differences persist over Afghanistan and U.S. economic influence