What the Public Thinks of News Coverage Since Sept. 11
A Brookings/Harvard Forum
The Vanishing Surplus, Barely Noticed
Judging from recent political discourse, “Who lost the budget surplus?” threatens to become the “Who lost China?” question of our times — the focus of finger-pointing for years to come. But there is a problem with that parallel: The American public knew about the loss of China — not so with the surplus. As recently […]
Wobbly Economic Attitudes Key to Bush’s Future
by Andrew Kohut for America Online
The Tabloid Public Is Not the Majority
The country has been inundated with news about Chandra Levy, the missing Washington intern. The coverage has seemed almost nonstop on cable television news, and the story has been Topic A on the chat shows. Even Dan Rather, who had resisted covering what he considered a tabloid story, had to give in and let his […]
Fear of Terrorism Weighs Heavily on Public
by Andrew Kohut for America Online
Balancing News Interest: A Great Juggling Act
by Andrew Kohut for Columbia Journalism Review
The Declining Support For Executions
Rising public opposition to the death penalty has been one of the few liberal social trends in recent years. But there is some reason to wonder whether the public’s overwhelming enthusiasm for executing Timothy McVeigh will stall or possibly reverse this development. Every nationwide poll taken has found the vast majority of Americans favoring the […]
Why Americans Aren’t Stirred by Campaign Finance Reform
Ask Americans why they don’t trust government and many will cite their distrust of government’s bosses — the politicians. Ask why they don’t trust the pols and the role of big money in politics is prominently mentioned. Yet campaign finance reform consistently gets a low rating as a national priority when tested against other issues. […]
Bush, Upstaged and Losing a Crucial Moment
The conventional wisdom that President Bush is benefiting from bad news about Bill Clinton is on increasingly shaky ground as the controversies over Mr. Clinton’s pardons grow rather than abate. If anything, as Mr. Bush finds himself vying with his predecessor for public attention, he is losing precious time to establish public support for his […]
