For the Media, it’s the Elections, Stupid
The midterms were a quarter of the newshole last week, and have been the third most covered story of the year, behind only the economy and the Gulf oil spill.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Guest Contributor
The midterms were a quarter of the newshole last week, and have been the third most covered story of the year, behind only the economy and the Gulf oil spill.
One month before the midterm elections, Americans offer harsh judgments on Republicans and Democrats in Washington with roughly three-quarters saying partisans have been bickering more than usual and approval ratings for leaders of both parties in Congress matching long-time lows.
Nearly six-in-ten adults have done research online about the products and services they buy, and about a quarter have posted comments or reviews online about the things they buy.
The latest Congressional Connection poll finds most in the public are in no mood for political compromising. Also, Americans split evenly on which political party could best handle the economy while four-in-ten say eliminating tax cuts for the wealthy would hurt the economy.
Despite all the animosity aimed at Washington, one usual political punching bag is actually not seen as villainous as it once was: taxes. More say they pay about the right amount in taxes than say they pay more than their fair share.
While a majority of Americans favors allowing changes to Social Security, there is very little support for replacing Medicare with a voucher system. Also, the public continues to see no clear leader atop the GOP.
While cell phone apps are popular among a segment of the adult cell phone using population, a notable number of cell owners are not yet a part of the emerging apps culture. But those who do download and use apps do so fairly frequently. Popular apps include entertainment (games, music, etc.) as well as those that provide information (maps, weather).
Confidence in Turkish institutions and leaders — including the military, religious leaders, and the prime minster — has declined over the last few years. And Turks continue to express largely negative views of major world powers.
In contrast to the Beck’s comments, it’s incorrect to say that “most” Christians do not view Mormons as Christians. However, many have mixed views about Mormonism.
The number of older adults on Facebook and other social networking sites has roughly doubled in the past year. About half of internet users ages 50-64 and one-in-four users ages 65 and older now log onto social networks.
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