Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Summary of Findings While the national media divided its time last week among a host of major news stories, the public remained intensely focused on the situation in Iraq. Fully 36% of Americans paid very closely attention to events in Iraq and 35% said this was the news story they followed more closely than any […]
From Capitol Hill to a refugee camp in Lebanon to ABC’s investigative team, the Mideast and the war on terror thoroughly dominated the media last week. Meanwhile, a controversy of sorts erupted over how news outlets treated the results of a new survey of Muslim-American attitudes.
The war in Iraq eclipsed all other news in the first three months of 2007. The 2008 presidential race was the next biggest story, and most of that was about Democrats. These are among the findings in PEJ’s first quarterly report of its News Coverage Index, which allows us to probe the data more deeply than we can on a weekly basis.
The now-resolved hostage crisis with Iran attracted the most media coverage last week while the investigation into the fired U.S. attorneys went on temporary hiatus. But even with the voting 19 months away, the 2008 race for the White House continues to fascinate the press, the second story only behind the debate over the war in Iraq.
Summary of Findings As the Democratic-led Congress approaches the 100-day mark, pluralities of Americans approve of the way that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are handling their leadership roles. However, the public gives Democrats mixed reviews for delivering on their campaign promises and for their policies and proposals. Slightly more […]
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, […]
by John Green, Senior Fellow, Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life White mainline Protestants have been divided politically in recent national elections. According to the 2004 exit polls, 55% of this group voted for George W. Bush while 45% supported John F. Kerry. In 2006, the exit poll showed that 51% of white mainline […]
April 3, 2007 by John Green, Senior Fellow, Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life White non-Hispanic Catholics have become a key swing vote in recent national elections. According to the 2004 exit polls, 56% of this group voted for George W. Bush and 43% voted for John F. Kerry. In 2006, the exit poll […]
The Scooter Libby verdict triggered a noisy debate on talk shows last week, even as the radio talkers were quiet about the problems at Walter Reed. But the real surprise may be in how some conservative hosts are treating the 2008 Democratic presidential frontrunners.