Political angle of Flint water crisis rose in searches both locally and nationally in January 2016 for the first time
Proportion of all Google searches that contain Flint water crisis-related terms for the Politics category within each geographic area
Jan 16
President Obama declares
state of emergency and
offers $5M in aid
Apr 20
Criminal
charges
filed
Larger
proportion
of searches
Mar 6
Democratic
presidential
candidates
hold a
debate in
Flint
Jan 4–5
State of emergency
declared in Genesee
County and Michigan
May 4
Obama
addresses
Flint
Flint
Mich.
Smaller
proportion
of searches
U.S.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
J
F
M
A
M
J
2014
2015
2016
Note: For details on search topic definitions and sampling, see the Methodology.
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of Google Health API data for Jan. 5, 2014–July 2, 2016.
“Searching for News: The Flint Water Crisis”
PEW RESEARCH CENTER
Political angle of Flint water crisis rose in searches both locally and nationally in January 2016 for the first time
Proportion of all Google searches that contain Flint water
crisis-related terms for the Politics category within each
geographic area
May 4
Obama
addresses Flint
Flint
Michigan
U.S.
Apr 20
Criminal charges filed
Larger
proportion
of searches
Mar 6
Democratic presidential
candidates hold a debate in Flint
Jan 16
President Obama declares state of
emergency and offers $5M in aid
Jan 4–5
State of emergency declared in
Genesee County and Michigan
Smaller
proportion
of searches
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
J
F
M
A
M
J
2014
2015
2016
Note: For details on search topic definitions and sampling, see the Methodology.
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of Google Health API data for Jan. 5, 2014-July 2, 2016.
“Searching for News: The Flint Water Crisis”
PEW RESEARCH CENTER
Political angle of Flint water
crisis rose in searches both
locally and nationally in
January 2016 for the first time
Proportion of all Google searches that
contain Flint water crisis-related
terms for the Politics category within
each geographic area
D
C
Larger
proportion
of searches
B
A
E
Flint
Michigan
U.S.
Smaller
proportion
of searches
2014
2015
2016
A
Jan 4–5 State of emergency declared in Genesee County and Michigan
Jan 16 President Obama declares state of emergency and offers $5M in aid
B
Mar 6 Democratic presidential candidates hold a debate in Flint
C
Apr 20 Criminal charges filed
D
May 4 Obama addresses Flint
E
Note: For details on search topic definitions and
sampling, see the Methodology.
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of Google
Health API data for Jan. 5, 2014-July 2, 2016.
“Searching for News: The Flint Water Crisis”
PEW RESEARCH CENTER
