Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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The memories that are shared by large majorities of Americans are largely of American events and often very recent ones. Memories of significant events that did not include the U.S. are less clear. For example, while three-quarters of Americans remember the moment they heard the news of the outbreak of war in the Persian Gulf, […]
Presidential Politics For all the support Democrats get on the issues, interest in continuing the policies and programs of the Clinton administration has begun to ebb. As the Clinton administration enters its final 18 months, Americans express less enthusiasm for a continuation of the Clinton policy agenda than they did four months ago. Just 43% […]
Introduction and Summary Personal image problems and fallout from Clinton administration scandals are contributing to Al Gore’s declining favorability ratings and his poor showing in early horse race polls. As the vice president has inched closer to the Democratic presidential nomination, his favorability ratings have fallen and he has slipped further behind GOP frontrunner George […]
Other Political News Americans in general have a positive view of George W. Bush and Elizabeth Dole — nearly three times as many describe these Republican candidates in positive terms as describe them in negative terms. For Bush, the most common description is “good,” with “okay,” “unknown,” “leader,” and “honest” also in the top five. […]
A stream of candidate announcements and polls showing Texas Governor George W. Bush leading Vice President Al Gore have spurred interest in the 2000 presidential contest. But with the nominating conventions still more than 16 months away, what do these early polls mean for would-be nominees? A look back at nearly 40 years of early […]
Introduction and Summary Americans remain supportive of military action in Yugoslavia, but unease about the situation is growing. A solid majority of the public continues to approve of NATO air strikes against Serbia. Humanitarian concern for the plight of the Kosovars is broad, and only a minority of Americans say that U.S. military involvement in […]
While the news media appreciate the utility of new technologies in their work, they are mixed in their views of the way journalism is practiced in these new mediums. The advent of online-only news sites and the proliferation of cable channels are given only lukewarm endorsements by the news media today, particularly among older members […]
Spike in National Mood The public’s sense of how well the country is doing has finally caught up with Americans’ positive ratings of their own lives. In fact, the national mood is better today than at any time since the 1960s, and the public is even more optimistic about the future. Nearly one-in-three Americans give […]
“There just has not been a reason to watch local news for a long time.” That sad summary doesn’t come from a critic, but from a longtime television news consultant, Don Fitzpatrick, president of Don Fitzpatrick and Associates, a San Francisco-based consulting firm. While local news is still the most popular form of TV news, […]
During the 1998 campaign season, approximately 11 million Americans logged onto the Internet for news and information about the elections. This is an increase of four million people over 1996, bringing the total to 6% of the general population, up from 4% in 1996. These election news seekers are a particularly active group, using the […]