Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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The Pew Research Center survey of 1,003 online users in October 1996 shows slow but steady growth in this activity. Online users are going online at slightly higher rates than was the case some 16 months ago. Their motivations and their behavior have changed somewhat. More are going online for pleasure, and more are seeking […]
But An Informed Decision The usefulness of the debates aside, voters did feel they were sufficiently informed to choose between candidates. Fully 75% of voters felt they had learned enough about the candidates to make “an informed choice” between Clinton, Dole and Perot, a level similar to that in 1992 (77%) and substantially higher than […]
Network TV News Credibility Slips In a separate survey by the Center, the public perception of the believability of two network news anchors eroded significantly, as did the believability of two news networks, compared to three years ago. Tom Brokaw, NBC News, and CBS News were the exceptions, experiencing only statistically insignificant decreases in this […]
Introduction and Summary Television news is in trouble with the American public. Fewer adults are regularly watching it these days. Viewership of nightly network news is particularly hard hit. Fewer than half the public (42%) now says it regularly watches one of the three nightly network broadcasts — down from 48% in 1995 and 60% […]
Introduction and Summary The number of Americans going online to an information service or directly to the Internet has more than doubled in the past year, but most consumers are still feeling their way through cyberspace. Few see online activities as essential to them, and no single online feature, with the exception of E-Mail, is […]
Report Summary A new study suggests that the way the media covers international news may be doing little to change the American public’s indifference to concerns about world events and foreign policy. A four-month analysis of over 7,000 international news stories now finds that newspapers and network television focus most often on world news that […]
Report Summary Public Favorability Toward the Press The public continues to regard news organizations less favorably than it did before news of the Iran-Contra affair changed public opinion. A Gallup/Times Mirror survey conducted last January found that the President’s declining popularity had a fallout effect on other institutions, including the press. Since January, there has […]
Report Summary In the days when LBJ was President, the phrase “generation gap” summed up the contrasting political and social values of young Americans and their elders. Today, a new but different generation gap exists. A major comparative examination of what young people know, what they pay attention to, and what media they use reveals […]
Report Summary Reagan’s Fall The extent to which President Reagan’s image has been tarnished by the Iran-Contra arms scandal has been evident in the major public opinion surveys released over the last month. The current Gallup/Times Mirror survey results further document Reagan’s fall. The number themselves — the proportion of Reagan supporters versus critics — […]
Report Summary Fewer people are reading newspapers and watching network television news these days. It is unclear whether this is a continuation of the long-term decline in audiences of both media, or whether it is a result of the O.J. Simpson trial, which has gripped the attention of a significant percentage of core news consumers.