A judge’s decision to overturn California’s ban on same-sex marriage became a reason to celebrate for many bloggers last week. Others rallied behind the website WikiLeaks, following its release of secret information about the war in Afghanistan. On Twitter, the decision by 40 wealthy Americans to donate money to charity drew the most attention. And on YouTube, an Alabama crime stopper became a web sensation.
Newspaper coverage of the Catholic clergy sexual abuse scandal grew more intense this spring than at any time since 2002, and European newspapers devoted even more ink to the story than American papers did, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center. The heavy coverage in Europe was a reversal of the pattern […]
Respondents’ thoughts Survey participants were encouraged to: “Explain your choice and share your view about the future of human lifestyles in 2020 – what is likely to stay the same and what will be different? Will the values and practices that characterize today’s younger Internet users change over time?” The following is a small selection […]
Summary of Findings The long-running debate over health care reform continued to dominate public attention and media coverage last week as the final skirmishes played out on Capitol Hill and President Obama set out to promote the newly-enacted law. Two-thirds of Americans (66%) say they followed the health care debate more closely than any other […]
European campaigns to ban burqas, the Swiss vote to bar new construction of minarets and attempted terrorist acts in the United States have renewed questions and concerns about the compatibility of Islam with Western society. Swiss-born scholar and philosopher of Islam Tariq Ramadan has written and spoken on the subject, generating widespread debate and reaction. […]
The Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life held a conference call with journalists to discuss the findings of a new 19-country survey, “Tolerance and Tension: Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa.” The study finds that the vast majority of people in many sub-Saharan African nations are deeply committed to Christianity or Islam, […]
Health care reform received its highest level of media coverage last week than at any time since the legislative battle began. That made it the 18th biggest story in any week since PEJ began its real time monitoring of the national media. And most of that coverage focused on the political impact of the law.
