Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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While television news viewership has fallen off in recent years, credibility ratings for the major TV news outlets have remained relatively stable. As was the case in 1998 and 1996, CNN is rated the most believable TV news source. Roughly four-in-ten Americans who are able to rate it (39%) say they can believe all or […]
The decline in the number of Americans who say they enjoy the news is a continuation of a long-term trend. In 1995, a majority (54%) said they enjoyed keeping up with the news a lot. That number fell to 50% in 1998 and 45% this year. While Americans remain generally satisfied with the quality of […]
Introduction and Summary A year after the United States launched military operations in the Balkans, the public has more doubts about the efforts of the U.S. and its NATO allies to bring peace to Kosovo. Americans are also wary of possible military action against China, with a solid majority opposed to using force to defend […]
Bottom Line Attitudes: High Favorability Scores Abound In general, the agencies receive fairly high marks from the constituent groups. Of the five agencies included in the survey, the Food and Drug Administration comes out on top: Over 80% of medical professionals, business regulatory officers, health and medicine advocates, and the chronically ill have a favorable […]
What Four Quality Stations Can Teach You By John Corporon Most industries use benchmarking — identifying models of successful excellence — as a way of improving quality. The case study method used in top business schools is predicated on this theory. Local TV news hasn’t benefited much from benchmarking. Hard data about what works journalistically […]
Introduction and Summary Americans anticipate many perils in the next century, but none of them, no matter how grave, can dim the public’s positive view of the future. Despite consensus forecasts of natural disasters, environmental calamities and international terrorism, Americans are near unanimous in their confidence that life will get better for themselves, their families […]
An overwhelming 81% say they are optimistic about their lives and the lives of their families over the next half century; 40% consider themselves very optimistic. These optimists tend to be young, college educated and have higher than average incomes. Among Americans under age 30, 85% report feeling positive about their futures, compared to 72% […]
When asked to predict the future, public confidence in science and technology is again evident. Eight-in-ten people say that cancer and AIDS will probably be cured; 23% and 19%, respectively, think that cures will definitely be found. Half of the public says scientists may be able to clone humans by the mid-21st century. Those who […]
Americans have decidedly different views of the technical and cultural changes of the 20th century. On the whole, technological changes are viewed as advancements for the better, while cultural changes are evolutions of mixed value to society. Inventions involving communications and travel win plaudits from broad cross sections of the public. Younger generations are somewhat […]