report | Apr 24, 2012

News about Trayvon Martin Case Still Top Story

Overview With a Florida judge clearing the way for George Zimmerman to get out of jail on bail, developments in the case against the man charged in the killing of Trayvon Martin topped Americans’ news interest last week. About a quarter of the public (26%) says they followed developments in the case more closely than […]

report | Apr 23, 2012

How the Media Covered the 2012 Primary Campaign

As the 2012 presidential race shifts from the GOP primary battle to the general election matchup between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, a new PEJ study reveals what the public has been told about the two candidates by the media.  It also finds that Mitt Romney emerged as the winner of the media primary weeks before Rick Santorum dropped out.

report | Apr 17, 2012

Murder Charge in Trayvon Martin’s Death Top Story

Overview The Trayvon Martin killing continued to top the public’s news interest last week as prosecutors in Florida filed a second-degree murder charge against George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot the African American 17-year-old. About a third of the public (32%) says they followed news about the charges against Zimmerman more closely than […]

report | Apr 10, 2012

Majority of Americans See Economic News as Mixed

Overview Most Americans continue to say they are hearing a mix of good and bad news about the nation’s economy, though the percentage hearing mostly bad news has ticked up since last month. Nearly six-in-ten (57%) say they are hearing mixed news about the economy, 30% say they are hearing mostly bad economic news and […]

report | Apr 3, 2012

Wide Racial, Partisan Gaps in Reactions to Trayvon Martin Coverage

Overview The Trayvon Martin shooting is the public’s top story for the second consecutive week. But interest in the teenager’s death is deeply divided along partisan, as well as racial, lines. These differences also are apparent in reactions to news coverage of the incident: Far more Republicans (56%) than Democrats (25%) say there has been […]

report | Mar 30, 2012

How Blogs, Twitter and Mainstream Media Have Handled the Trayvon Martin Case

It took several weeks after the killing of teenager Trayvon Martin before the story exploded in the media. A new PEJ report reveals how social and mainstream media platforms focused on different elements of the controversy and how ideology influenced coverage on the cable and radio talk shows.

report | Mar 27, 2012

Trayvon Martin Killing Is Public’s Top News Story

Overview The growing controversy over the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida was the public’s top story last week, though African Americans express far greater interest in news about the killing than do whites. Overall, a quarter of Americans (25%) say they followed news about the African American teenager killed by a community […]

report | Mar 21, 2012

Rising Fuel Prices Top Story for Public

Overview Rising fuel prices topped the public’s news interest last week as the average cost of gasoline neared $4.00 a gallon. About a quarter (26%) say they followed news about rising gas and oil prices more closely than any other story, according to the latest weekly News Interest Index survey, conducted March 15-18 among 1,009 […]

report | Mar 19, 2012

What Facebook and Twitter Mean for News

Perhaps no topic in technology attracted more attention in 2011 than the rise of social media and its potential impact on news. “If searching for news was the most important development of the last decade, sharing news may be among the most important of the next,” we wrote in a May 2011 report analyzing online news behavior called Navigating News Online.

report | Mar 15, 2012

Campaign Interest Comparable to Most Previous Elections, Well Below 2008

Overview The presidential campaign again proved to be the top story for the public and the media last week. Overall public interest is comparable to most previous primary election cycles, but well below the high mark set four years ago. Last week, which included Super Tuesday contests in 10 states, 28% say they followed election […]

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