Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Introduction As pervasive as information and communications technologies are in modern society, there is a great deal of variation in what technologies people have, how they use them, and what they think of them. Many of us may know someone who is the first person on the block to get the latest gadget. He – […]
Summary of Findings News about problems with the medical care of wounded Iraq war veterans drew the public’s attention last week. More than three-in-ten Americans (31%) paid very close attention to news about conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and more general reports about how soldiers returning from Iraq are being cared for. And […]
Overall, that extensive morning show and cable output is largely responsible for the fact that Smith’s death was the third biggest story, accounting for 8% of all the news coverage studied by PEJ in that slightly more than three-week period. It missed being No. 1 by the narrowest of margins. The Iraq policy debate, which […]
The Rev. Jerry Falwell, one of the founders of the Christian right movement, died Tuesday, May 15, 2007. The Pew Forum has assembled a variety of resources on Falwell’s passing, including news articles and reflections on his life. Also see a Pew Forum Q&A with Senior Fellow John Green about the future of the Christian […]
Summary of Findings The increasingly fragmented media landscape has diminished the prominence of the nation’s top journalists. Two decades ago, the vast majority of Americans had a “favorite” journalist or news person, and the top picks were representatives of the big three broadcast television networks. Today, only a slim majority can name the journalist they […]
The battle in Iraq is still dominating the nation’s news coverage, but in different ways than it used to. While media attention on the political debate over troop strength has waned, a high-profile criminal trial and a riveting newspaper investigation have focused attention on different aspects of the controversial war.
The Attorney General faced a grilling from Congress, the Supreme Court weighed in on abortion rights, hundreds were slaughtered in a single day in Iraq, and a vicious storm wreaked havoc on the East Coast. But each of those events last week was completely overshadowed by the media’s non-stop coverage of the horrific events that unfolded on the campus of Virginia Tech.
Summary of Findings The controversy over the firing of eight U.S. attorneys is not attracting strong public interest in spite of intense media coverage of the story. In fact, the story evokes a typical response from the public when compared with news interest in past Washington scandals. Amid calls for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ resignation, […]