As Oklahoma recovers from severe damage caused by last week’s tornado, a majority of Americans (59%) say federal spending in response to natural disasters is emergency aid that does not need to be offset by cuts to other programs, while 29% say such spending must be offset by cuts to other programs.

While there are partisan differences in opinions about how disaster aid should be treated, majorities of Democrats (69%), independents (57%) and Republicans (52%) say that federal spending in response to natural disasters does not require offsetting spending cuts elsewhere.

The national survey by the Pew Research Center and the Washington Post, conducted May 23-26 among 1,005 adults, finds broad support across demographic groups for the view that federal spending in response to natural disasters is emergency aid and does not need to be offset by cuts to other programs. Comparable majorities of those living in the Northeast (62%), Midwest (58%), West (58%) and South (57%) all agree that federal spending in response to disasters is emergency aid.

Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, those who agree with the Tea Party are divided: 49% say government disaster spending does not require offsetting cuts, 42% say that it does. By a 54%-30% margin, Republicans who do not agree with the Tea Party, or have no opinion of the movement, say emergency disaster spending does not require offsetting cuts.

Young people under the age of 30 are about as likely to say emergency disaster spending requires offsetting cuts (42%) as not (48%). Broad majorities of all other age groups say federal spending in response to natural disasters is emergency aid that does not require cuts to other programs.

High Interest in Oklahoma Tornado

Nearly half of Americans (47%) say they paid very close attention to news about the deadly tornado that stuck Moore, Oklahoma, last week. Interest in the tornado was only slightly lower than interest in Hurricane Sandy last fall (53%).

Interest in the storm far surpassed interest in the week’s other top stories, including the murder of a British soldier in London (18% very closely), the debate over immigration policy in the U.S. (17%) and news about the Obama administration’s policy on the use of military drones (17%).

The public paid limited attention to last week’s congressional hearings on Benghazi. Fewer than half (44%) of Americans say they are following the hearings very or fairly closely, virtually unchanged from late January when Hillary Clinton testified. Last October, 61% said they were following the early stages of the investigation at least fairly closely.

The national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted May 9-12 among 1,000 adults, finds that Americans are deeply split over how both the administration and congressional Republicans are handling the situation. Four-in-ten (40%) say the Obama administration has generally been dishonest when it comes to providing information about the Benghazi attack, but 37% say they have been generally honest. And when it comes to the GOP-led investigation, 36% say Republicans have gone too far in the hearings, while 34% say they have handled them appropriately.

Not surprisingly, these reactions divide cleanly along partisan lines. Among Republicans, 70% say the Obama administration has been dishonest and 65% say the hearings have been handled appropriately. Among Democrats, 60% say the hearings have gone too far, and 62% say the administration has been honest.

The judgment of independents leans against the administration at this point: By a 48% to 30% margin independents say the administration has been generally dishonest. But independents are split when it comes to Republican handling of the hearings.

Republicans are twice as likely as Democrats (36% vs. 18%) to be following news about the Benghazi hearings very closely. This mirrors earlier measures of interest in the Benghazi situation dating back to last year. Republicans also are critical of what they see as insufficient press attention to the issue: 51% of Republicans say that news organizations have been giving too little coverage to the Benghazi hearings, compared with 26% of Democrats and 33% of independents.

About half (56%) of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say they regularly watch the Fox News Channel, and this group is particularly frustrated over the Benghazi situation. Fully 79% of Republicans who regularly watch Fox News say the Obama administration has been dishonest, compared with 60% of Republicans who don’t watch Fox regularly. Nearly half (46%) of Republicans who regularly watch Fox News say they are following the story very closely – compared with 23% among other Republicans. Those who regularly watch Fox News are also far more critical of the news media: 59% say the hearings have not received sufficient coverage by the news media.

Broad Public Interest in Rescue of Cleveland Women

News about the rescue of three women who had been held captive in a Cleveland home was far and away the public’s top story last week. Four-in-ten (40%) say they followed the story very closely, more than followed reports about the condition of the U.S. economy (28% very closely) or news about the Benghazi hearings (23% very closely).

Interest in the rescue of the Cleveland women is higher than for the discovery of Jaycee Dugard, in August of 2009; at that time, 27% said they were very closely following news about Dugard, following her reappearance more than 18 years after having gone missing. Women (45%) are more likely than men (35%) to say they are very closely following news about the rescue of the women in Cleveland.

Amidst high public interest in the story, 61% say news organizations have given the right amount of coverage to the Cleveland rescue; fewer than a quarter (21%) say there has been too much new coverage and 10% say there has been too little.

News about the immigration debate in Washington (20% very closely) and political violence in Syria (17%) garnered modest levels of public attention. In 2013, Pew Research surveys have measured interest in the debate over immigration five times, with very close interest climbing no higher than 23% in early April.

As Congress returns to Washington to resume work on gun control and immigration legislation, the public is paying far closer attention to news about the gun control debate than news about the debate over immigration policy.

A national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted April 4-7 among 1,003 adults, finds 37% say they are following the debate over gun control very closely. That compares with just 23% who say they are very closely following news about debate over immigration policy. Among this week’s stories, only military threats made by North Korea and its plan to restart a nuclear reactor drew about as much interest (36% very closely).

In recent weeks, no story has received more public attention than the debate over gun control. Other closely followed stories since mid-March have been news about the economy (30% very closely), news about automatic federal spending cuts (24%) and discussions about how to address the federal budget deficit and national debt (also 24%).

Since the start of the year, roughly four-in-ten have followed news about the gun control debate very closely on four of five surveys on which it was included. By contrast, the debate over immigration policy has drawn very close interest from 23% of the public both times it was included (Jan. 31-Feb. 3 and April 4-7).

The current survey finds only slight partisan differences in interest in the gun control debate. About four-in-ten Republicans (41%), 37% of independents and 34% of Democrats say they are following news about the debate very closely.

Views of Economic News Remain Mixed

Following a disappointing jobs report on April 5, the public continues to say they are hearing a mix of both good and bad news about the economy. About six-in-ten (59%) say they are hearing mixed economic news compared with 32% who say they are hearing mostly bad news and 8% who say they are hearing mostly good news. Opinions about the tone of economic news have changed little since the start of the year.

Republicans are about as likely to say they are hearing mostly bad news about the economy (48%) as mixed news (46%). Democrats are far more likely to say the economic news they have been hearing recently has been mixed (66%) rather than mostly bad (20%). Partisan views have changed little since the start of the year.

With the exception of the attack on a U.S. consulate in Libya in September, which became a bitterly debated campaign issue, no foreign news story cracked the list of top stories.

The presidential election was the year’s top story, according to Pew Research Center’s News Interest Index, which tracks interest in major stories in a weekly basis. In the days following Barack Obama’s reelection, 60% followed campaign news very closely.

The Dec. 14 shooting at an elementary school in Newtown Conn. attracted nearly as much interest; 57% followed news about the tragedy very closely. Another large-scale shooting this year – this one at an Aurora, Colo. movie theater in July – also drew widespread interest, with nearly half (48%) following this event very closely.

Hurricane Sandy, which hit the East Coast in late October, drew very close interest from 53% of Americans. Though it struck in the final days of the campaign, interest in Sandy surpassed interest in the election that week. Both Sandy and the Newtown shootings attracted overwhelming interest in the Northeast; fully 73% of those in that region tracked Sandy very closely while 70% followed the Connecticut school shootings very closely.

While the election was the year’s top political story, there also was substantial interest in several policy-related stories. Fully 45% of Americans followed the Supreme Court’s ruling on the 201o health care law; the ongoing fiscal cliff negotiations have consistently drawn interest from about four-in-ten Americans, while 37% paid very close attention to Obama’s announcement of support for same-sex marriage in May.

The absence of foreign news from the top stories list, with the exception of the Libya consulate attack, marked a contrast with last year, when several international stories drew broad interest, including the Japanese earthquake and tsunami (the top story of 2011), the killing of Osama bin Laden and the Arab Spring protests.

Gender Gap in Interest in Top Stories

Men and women paid roughly equal attention to most of the top stories of the year. However, higher percentages of women than men followed news about the large-scale shootings in Colorado and Connecticut very closely.

Fully 63% of women tracked news about the Newtown shooting very closely – making this the top story of the year for women; 58% followed the election very closely. Among men, 62% followed the election very closely, while 50% followed news about the Connecticut shooting very closely.

Women also were more likely than men to follow the shooting in a Colorado movie theater (by 14 points), the shooting death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin (11 points) and Obama’s expression of support for gay marriage (nine points).

Among the year’s top stories, none drew significantly more interest among men than women. However, far more men than women paid greater attention to a number of other stories throughout the year, including news about Iran’s nuclear program, plans for withdrawing U.S. troops in Afghanistan and sporting events.

Racial Gap in Interest in Trayvon Martin Shooting

There was a huge racial divide in interest in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager who was shot and killed in February in a gated community in Florida.

In late March, fully 70% of blacks followed news about Martin’s shooting very closely, compared with just 30% of whites. At the time, 43% of whites said the Martin case received too much coverage; just 16% of blacks said the incident was overcovered.

In March, when gas prices rose rapidly, African Americans were more likely than whites to say they were following news about gas prices very closely (65% of blacks vs. 50% of whites).

Wide Age Differences over Many Top Stories

There are sizable age differences in interest over nearly all the year’s top stories. The gaps are particularly stark in attentiveness to some stories covering national policy and politics.

In October, just 9% of those younger than 3o paid very close attention to news about investigation into the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Libya; 52% of those 65 and older tracked news of the investigation very closely. The differences were nearly as large in interest to the Supreme Court’s ruling on the health care law and the fiscal cliff debate.

Yet there were substantial differences over other stories as well, including Hurricane Sandy and the negotiations between the president and congressional Republicans over the fiscal cliff.

Of the 15 top stories this year, there were significant differences between young adults and older Americans over 13. The only exceptions were the shootings in the Colorado movie theater and the Summer Olympics.

There were only three stories this year that as many as about half of young people followed very closely: the shootings in Connecticut (53%) and Colorado (51%), and the presidential election (48%).

Some Stories That Never Found an Audience

There were a number of important stories in 2012 that did not attract a great deal of public attention. Some were overseas stories, like the ongoing political violence in Syria. The percentage of Americans followed this story very closely has never surpassed 20%. In early December, half said they were paying little or no attention to the situation in Syria.

Similarly, the European debt crisis, which could have a major impact on the U.S. economy, has never gotten much traction with the public. In June, just 18% followed news about the crisis very closely, which was consistent with interest dating back more than a year. Measures of interest in economic problems in Greece or other individual countries have drawn about the same or less attention.

Business stories seldom draw wide interest and that was the case for stories this year about troubled, old-line U.S. companies, like Kodak, as well as rapidly growing global brands, like Facebook. Just 7% very closely followed news of Kodak’s bankruptcy announcement in January, while 12% followed news about Facebook’s first public stock offering in June.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Facebook’s IPO was a major topic on social media, where there was considerable skepticism about the stock’s value, according to a May report by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.

The death of singer Whitney Houston in February attracted only modest interest from the public overall. However, this story drew far more interest among blacks (40% very closely) than among whites (13%), and more interest among women (25%) than men (10%).

Another story involving a celebrity – the news that Lance Armstrong was losing sponsors after being stripped of his Tour de France titles – drew little interest in any demographic group; just 8% of the public followed news about Armstrong very closely.

Finally, a story that set science aficionados abuzz – the discovery of a new subatomic particle called the Higgs boson, believed to be the basic building block of the universe – drew very close attention from just 12% of the public. While overall interest in the so-called “God particle” was limited, the story was unusual in that it drew as much attention from young people as from older adults.

The shootings at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. on Friday have drawn widespread public interest. A weekend survey finds that 57% of Americans say they followed news about the tragedy there very closely. That is higher than interest in the shootings at an Aurora, Colo. movie theater in July (49% very closely), though not as great as interest in the Columbine shootings in 1999 (68%).

The survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Dec. 14-16 among 746 adults, finds the public is evenly divided over whether the Newtown shootings reflect broader problems in Americans society (47%) or are just the acts of troubled individuals (44%).

By contrast, clear majorities said that both the Aurora shootings, as well as the shootings in Tucson, Ariz. in Jan. 2011, were just the isolated acts of troubled individuals; 67% said that after the Aurora shootings at a movie theater and 58% said that after the Tucson shootings, which killed six and left former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords seriously wounded. Opinions today are comparable to reactions to the shootings on the campus of Virginia Tech University in April 2007.

Most parents are talking with their children about the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, according to a separate survey of more than 750 adults with children at home, conducted Dec. 14-17, using Google Consumer Surveys. About half (53%) of all the parents who participated in the survey, including 71% of those with younger children, say they are restricting how much news coverage of the tragedy their children watch.

Isolated Acts or Indicative of Broader Problems?

Women, by 54% to 37%, say that Friday’s shootings at the elementary school reflect broader problems in American society. Men express the opposite view: 51% say that shootings like this are just the isolated acts of troubled individuals.

College graduates (54%) are more likely than those with no more than a high school education (42%) to say that the massacre reflects broader societal problems.

There also are partisan differences in reactions to the tragedy: Democrats, by 54% to 39%, say the shootings reflect broader societal problems. Republicans are divided, with 49% saying such incidents are the acts of troubled individuals, while 45% say they reflect broader problems.

People who have followed news about the shootings very closely are more likely than those who have not to say that they represent broader problems in society (51% vs. 40%).

How Parents Are Coping

A separate survey of more than 750 internet users with school-age children in the household, conducted Dec. 14-17, 2012 using Google Consumer Surveys finds that most are talking with their children about Friday’s shootings. Fully 62% of those with school age children have talked with their children about the shootings either a lot (20%) or some (42%), while 23% have not discussed the events with their children at all.

About half (53%) of parents say they have restricted how much coverage of the shootings their children watch. In a 2007 telephone survey, which was conducted shortly after the Virginia Tech shootings, 40% said they were restricting how much coverage their children watched.

Parents of elementary school-age children are discussing the recent events with their children far less than parents of older children. Only about half (48%) of parents with elementary school-age children have talked about the shootings with their children at least some, compared with 72% of parents only with children in 6th-12th grade.

Fully 71% of parents with children in elementary school are trying to restrict how much coverage of the events their children watch, compared with only 36% of parents with older children. Six-in-ten parents (60%) with both elementary school-age and older children are restricting how much coverage their children watch.

High News Interest in Newtown Shootings

Nearly six-in-ten (57%) say they followed news about the Newtown shooting very closely, making it by far the public’s top story last week. News interest in the Newtown shooting is higher than for other recent gun tragedies, including shootings in Aurora, Colo. (41% very closely), Tucson, Ariz. (49% very closely), and Virginia Tech (45% very closely). In April 1999, somewhat more followed news about shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo. very closely (68%).

In a busy news week, more Americans say they followed the debate over the “fiscal cliff” very closely than the investigations into the Libya embassy attack, renewed violence in the Middle East or the FBI investigation that led to David Petraeus’s resignation as CIA Director after it found he was having an extra-marital affair.

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Nov. 15-18 among 1,002 adults, finds that nearly identical percentages of Republicans (36%) and Democrats (35%) say they very closely followed the debate over the automatic spending cuts and tax increases that will take effect at the beginning of next year unless the president and Congress act. Republicans are about as interested as Democrats in the Petraeus investigation (28% vs. 21%).

But there is a wide partisan gap in interest in another major story of the week; Republicans (42%) are much more likely than Democrats (21%) or independents (22%) to say they very closely followed the investigation into the September attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya very closely.

While interest in the investigation that uncovered Petraeus’s affair is modest, 30% of Americans say the news is of great importance to the nation, while 32% say it is of some importance; 32% say it is of very little or no importance. Republicans are significantly more likely than Democrats to say the Petraeus situation is of great importance (43% vs. 27%).

Notably, more people say the Petraeus situation is of either great or some importance (62%) than said that about Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky in February 1998 (52%), shortly after news of Clinton’s affair broke. There was a much wider partisan gap in perceptions of the importance of the Clinton-Lewinsky affair: Among Republicans, 42% said the scandal was of great importance to the nation, compared with 9% of Democrats. Fully 65% of Democrats said it was of little or no importance to the nation.

In November 2005, when Lewis Libby, a former national security aide to Vice President Dick Cheney was indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice, 79% felt it was of great (44%) or some (35%) importance. More than half of Democrats (56%) said the Libby indictment was of great importance, compared with 30% of Republicans.

When respondents were asked to describe their reaction to news about Gen. Petraeus’s resignation and the ongoing FBI investigation into the situation, the words “surprised” and “disappointed” are used more than any others, along with “shocked,” “sad” and “disgusted.”

The survey finds no signs of a gender gap in interest or reactions to the Petraeus situation. Roughly equal percentages of men and women say they followed the story very closely (23% vs. 21%) and rate it as very important for the nation (28% vs. 31%). In addition, both men and women offer similar words to describe their reaction to the news.

Just over half of the public (53%) say they followed news about Hurricane Sandy and the storm’s impact very closely last week, outpacing interest in the 2012 presidential election (47% very closely) and news about the U.S. economy (38% very closely).

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Nov. 1-4, 2012, among 1,011 adults, finds that interest in the storm is particularly high in the Northeast: fully 73% of those living in this region say they are following news about Sandy very closely, compared with 53% of those in the South, 46% of those in the Midwest and 43% of those in the West.

Interest in Hurricane Sandy is far higher than for Hurricane Isaac earlier this year (31% very closely) and ranks as one of the most closely followed storms in Pew Research surveys dating to 1989. Interest is comparable to that for Hurricane Ike in September 2008 (50% very closely), but remains well below the 70% who were following Hurricane Katrina very closely in September 2005.

Interest in 2012 Campaign Lags Behind 2008

Overall, 47% say they have been following news about the candidates for the 2012 presidential election very closely, down modestly from 52% a week ago. Campaign news interest has lagged behind measures from comparable points in 2008 in four out of the past five weeks. And the high mark for campaign interest measured in 2012 (52% in the Oct. 25-28 survey) is lower than the high measured in 2008 (61% in the Oct. 17-20, 2008 survey).

Views of Economic News

As has been the case throughout 2012, most Americans (55%) say they are hearing a mix of good and bad news about the U.S. economy. A third (33%) say they have been hearing mostly bad news about the economy, up slightly from October (28%). Just 10% are hearing mostly good news about the economy, though this, too, has risen since the summer. In August, just 3% said they were hearing mostly good economic news.

The percentage of independents who say they are hearing mostly bad news about the economy has risen over the past month. In the current survey, 38% of independents say the economic news they have been hearing is mostly bad, up from 29% at the start of October. Views of Republicans and Democrats are little changed.

Less Bad News about Gas Prices

While overall views of economic news have shifted only slightly, news about gas prices has improved dramatically since early October. Overall, half (50%) say they are hearing mostly bad news about gas prices, down 22 points from a month ago. More now say they are hearing a mix of good and bad news (30%) or mostly good news about gas prices (16%) than did so in October (21% and 4%, respectively).

News about other economic sectors has been more stable over the past month. Overall, 46% say they have been hearing mostly bad news about the job situation, 37% say they have been hearing mixed news, and just 14% say they have been hearing mostly good news.

News about real estate and financial markets remains mixed, with little change in views from October.

Large majorities of Americans are following coverage of the Olympic Games in London. Nearly eight-in-ten (78%) say they have watched or followed Olympic coverage either on television, online or on social networks.

Television remains far-and-away the leading platform for Olympic coverage; 73% say they have watched coverage on television. Still, 17% say they have watched online or digitally and 12% report they have followed Olympic coverage on social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter. Most Olympic followers (68%) say they are watching events in the evening after they have already occurred. At the same time, almost a quarter (23%) say they are watching live during the day.

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Internet & American Life Project, conducted August 2-5, 2012 among 1,005 adults, finds that NBC’s coverage of the Olympics receives high marks from the public. Overall, 76% of Olympic watchers describe the coverage as excellent (29%) or good (47%); 18% describe it as only fair (13%) or poor (5%).

Although there has been criticism of NBC’s coverage expressed online on social media sites like Twitter, the coverage is rated about equally well by those who are watching online and following on social networks (70% excellent/good) and those watching on television (77%). There is also little difference in the ratings given by those watching events live (85% excellent/good) and those watching in the evening after the events have occurred (75%).

Young people under the age of 30 are much more likely to have followed Olympic coverage on social networking sites than are older Americans. About three-in-ten (31%) of those ages 18-29 have followed coverage on social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter, compared with 11% of those 30-49, 6% of those 50-64, and just 2% of those 65 and older.

Following Olympic coverage online and on social networks appears to be a supplement rather than a replacement for television viewing. Among those following the Olympics online or on social networks, most (79%) say they are also watching Olympic coverage on television.

The poll finds that those following coverage online or on social networks are no more likely to say they are watching events live than those watching Olympic coverage on television.

In the final two weeks of July, Americans kept a close watch on news about a deadly shooting rampage at a Colorado movie theater, but they also closely tracked news about two long-running stories – the condition of the nation’s economy and the 2012 presidential campaign.

News about the shootings, which left 12 dead and dozens injured, topped the News Interest Index for the month and the story is among the most closely followed so far in 2012.

In the days immediately after the rampage – which took place at a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” on July 20 – 48% said they followed news about the shootings very closely. In the most recent survey, conducted July 26-29 among 1,010 adults by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, 41% say they followed news about the shootings very closely in the previous week.

But Americans also continued to follow news about the condition of the nation’s economy and the 2012 presidential election. In the July 19-22 survey, for example, 39% said they followed news about the condition of the U.S. economy very closely, while 35% said they followed news about the presidential elections this closely.

Interest in news about the presidential election is now at a level comparable to interest at about the same point in the 2008 campaign. Looking at monthly averages, 30% said they followed election news very closely in July 2008; this July, 31% say this.

The public’s interest in the 2012 campaign has fluctuated only slightly so far this year. In 2008, interest rose early in the year as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton engaged in a primary fight for the Democratic nomination. Interest subsided somewhat mid-year but then climbed as the fall campaign got underway. In October and November, more than half of the public said they were following news about the 2008 campaign very closely.

Looking at other news last month, nearly three-in-ten (28%) said in the July 19-22 survey that they very closely followed news about drought conditions across much of the country and its impact on farms and crops. Those in the Midwest (34%) and the South (32%) were somewhat more likely to say they followed this news very closely than those in the Northeast (21%) and those in the West (22%). Earlier in the month in the July 5-8 survey, 27% said they very closely followed news about strong storms in the Midwest and the East and continued power outages.

In the July 12-15 survey, 25% say they very closely followed news about the report on the sex abuse scandal at Penn State University that faulted senior officials for failing to protect children from abuse. Interest in this news was comparable across most demographic groups.

One week later, about a quarter (23%) very closely followed news about the debate in Washington over automatic spending cuts and tax increases that will take effect in January unless Congress acts. Republicans and Democrats expressed similar levels of interest in this story (30% of Republicans and 25% of Democrats said they followed this news very closely).

About two-in-ten (19%) say they very closely followed news about the start of the Summer Olympics in London last week. Four years ago, 24% said they followed news about the opening of the Olympics in Beijing very closely. That number increased to 35% as the competition unfolded.

These findings are based on the most recent installments of the weekly News Interest Index, an ongoing project of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, building on the Center’s longstanding research into public attentiveness to major news stories. Survey data measuring public interest in the top news stories of the past week were collected July 26-29 from a nationally representative sample of 1,010 adults.