Political Issues

How have the news media covered the early days of the Obama presidency? How does that coverage stack up against that of his predecessors? A new study examines the tone and focus of Obama’s media narrative and how compares it to Bill Clinton’s and George Bush’s.

Overview As he approaches the 100-day mark of his presidency, Barack Obama’s job approval ratings are higher than those of his most recent predecessors. However, the 44th president is even more distinguished by his strong personal popularity. Fully 73% of Americans – including as many as 46% of Republicans – hold a favorable view of […]

Overview Amid intense debate over the use of torture against suspected terrorists, public opinion about this issue remains fairly stable. Currently, nearly half say the use of torture under such circumstances is often (15%) or sometimes (34%) justified; about the same proportion believes that the torture of suspected terrorists is rarely (22%) or never (25%) […]

Participatory medicine is taking hold with both citizens and health professionals. But there are still pockets of people who lack access to the basic technology, lack the skills required to participate, or who may lack the sense that they are welc...

Technology is changing how patients navigate their health care experience. New survey data shows how e-patients are using social media to connect to each other and to information.

New survey data shows that not only is there a participatory class of citizen, but there is a participatory class of patient.

The online community was focused on two subjects that received little attention in the mainstream press last week—the debate over gay marriage and the death of a man at the G20 Summit.

This talk presents an overview of Pew Internet project data on teens and social media, including teen tech tool ownership, communication patterns over social networks and mobile phones as well analysis of how young adults 18-29 seeking health info...

Overview Shortly before President Obama took office in January, the public was uncharacteristically optimistic that Republicans and Democrats would work together more to solve problems in the year ahead. Less than three months later, those expectations have faded and most see a return to partisan politics in Washington. A majority (53%) currently says that Republicans […]

While many say they light up to relieve stress, half of all smokers say they "frequently" experience stress in their daily lives, compared with just 35% of those who once smoked and have now quit, and 31% of those who never smoked.