Publications

Grant from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will support new effort by Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project to study the changing role of public libraries and library users in the digital age.

With more and more partisans choosing up sides on the issue, the Occupy Wall Street protests continued to fuel economic coverage last week. Mitt Romney took front and center in the 2012 presidential campaign, and the unraveling of an Iranian plot on U.S. soil raised more questions than answers.

Last week, many in social media were consumed by two major events, the unveiling of a feverishly anticipated Apple iPhone and the death of the genius and driving force behind that company, Steve Jobs. Meanwhile, a TV interview that spelled doom for one of TV’s signature theme songs was the most-viewed YouTube media.

Nearly half of Americans (47%) say that Wall Street hurts the U.S. economy more than it helps, while 38% say it helps more than hurts; 15% offer no opinion.

A sharp decline in fertility rates in the United States that started in 2008 is closely linked to the souring of the economy that began about the same time. Births fell from a record high of 4,316,233 in 2007 to an estimated 4,007,000 in 2010.

Nearly six in ten Americans (58%) say we should pay less attention to problems overseas and instead concentrate on problems here at home, while 33% say it is best for the future of our country to be active in world affairs.

Three-quarters of Republicans (76%) say news organizations are politically biased, a view shared by 54% of Democrats.

Despite an extended economic downturn, the public’s impression of whether the nation is economically divided remains relatively stable. While 45% say American society is divided between “haves” and “have-nots,” 52% say it is incorrect to think of the country this way.