Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Introduction and Summary The public’s news habits have been largely unaffected by the Sept. 11 attacks and subsequent war on terrorism. Reported levels of reading, watching and listening to the news are not markedly different than in the spring of 2000. At best, a slightly larger percentage of the public is expressing general interest in [...]
Introduction and Summary Campaign 2000 firmly established the Internet as a major source of election news and information. But as the audience for online campaign news has expanded — increasing fourfold over the past four years — it has gone more mainstream in its preferences and pursuits. A majority now cites convenience, not a desire [...]
Introduction and Summary Traditional news outlets are feeling the impact of two distinct and powerful trends. Internet news has not only arrived, it is attracting key segments of the national audience. At the same time, growing numbers of Americans are losing the news habit. Fewer people say they enjoy following the news, and fully half [...]
Introduction and Summary American voters are hard to reach and hard to move. They rely on a kaleidoscope of media outlets, old and new, to follow news about the presidential campaign — virtually all of which are given a mixed review for political objectivity. And most voters say that political endorsements by celebrities, local newspapers, [...]
Introduction and Summary Journalists increasingly agree with public criticism of their profession and the quality of their work. Overwhelmingly, news media professionals say the lines have blurred between commentary and reporting and between entertainment and news. A growing number of reporters, editors and news executives also say that news reports are full of factual errors [...]
Introduction and Summary The Internet audience is not only growing, it is getting decidedly mainstream. Two years ago, when just 23% of Americans were going online, stories about technology were the top news draw. Today, with 41% of adults using the Internet, the weather is the most popular online news attraction. Increasingly people without college [...]
Introduction and Summary The Pew Research Center’s biennial news use survey finds that overall Americans are reading, watching and listening to the news just as often as they were two years ago. But the type of news Americans follow and the way they follow it are being fundamentally reshaped by technological change and the post-Cold [...]
Survey Findings On October 27, the day the stock market plunged more than 550 points, worried Americans turned to new media sources for instant information. Many of those who followed the story “very” closely tracked news of the sell-off either on cable television or over the Internet — news outlets that were not factors in [...]
Introduction and Summary The numbers are still modest but the Internet is beginning to play a role in the news habits of a significant number of American consumers. Over one-in-five Americans now go online — either at home, work or school. Nearly three-fourths of this group sometimes get news from the World Wide Web or [...]
Introduction and Summary Television news is in trouble with the American public. Fewer adults are regularly watching it these days. Viewership of nightly network news is particularly hard hit. Fewer than half the public (42%) now says it regularly watches one of the three nightly network broadcasts — down from 48% in 1995 and 60% [...]
Report Summary Fewer people are reading newspapers and watching network television news these days. It is unclear whether this is a continuation of the long-term decline in audiences of both media, or whether it is a result of the O.J. Simpson trial, which has gripped the attention of a significant percentage of core news consumers.
Summary of Findings As the internet was in its earliest stages as a mass communication medium, the Times Mirror Center for the People & the Press undertook a major study investigating the ways in which new and old technology were being integrated into peoples’ lives. The study is based on a survey of 3,667 adults [...]
Report Summary In a comparative media survey across eight countries, the publics of North America and Western Europe credit the news media for its positive overall impact on their countries. Large majorities said the press helps their democracies and has a good influence on their societies — usually better than the influence of other institutions, [...]
Report Summary On the eve of the national political conventions the American electorate is composed of three generations that are likely to play vastly different roles in the coming election. Americans over 50 may be the first generation of older people in modern history to spearhead a political revolution, and middle-aged people, clustered in the [...]
Report Summary The President’s approval ratings have slipped below 40% for the first time ever, a significant gender gap is re-emerging, and two traditionally strong constituencies — the affluent and younger voters — are starting to edge away from the President. While the now famous unnamed Democrat beats the President, the public still believes Bush [...]
Report Summary Two stories over the past four weeks are distinguished by how much and how little attention Americans paid to them. Reports of the amount of destruction caused by Hurricane Hugo were very closely followed by 60% of Americans, making it the third most closely followed story out of the 71 tracked by the [...]
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About Pew Research Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts.
