Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Public Not as Ready as Media for Elections

Americans Stay Focused on Gulf Oil Spill

May 26, 2010

Americans stayed focused on the unfolding oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last week, while the effort to cap the underwater well and limit the damage was one of two stories that dominated media coverage.

The media devoted comparable levels of coverage to the spill and news about last week's primaries and the 2010 midterm elections (each accounted for 18% of the newshole), but the public showed much less interest in the political developments (5% followed this most closely) than the crisis in the gulf (46% most closely).

The latest News Interest Index survey, conducted May 20-23 among 1,002 adults by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, finds that as Congress works to finish legislation regulating financial institutions, the public's perceptions of the issue are similar to its views of the issue of health care reform late last year: Large percentages say the issue is important (87%) and affects them personally (72%), while 60% find it interesting. However, 62% say the issue of financial regulation is hard to understand.

More than four-in-ten (42%) say the media are giving too little coverage to the proposals for stricter regulation of banks and financial institutions. On the other hand, nearly six-in-ten (59%) say the media are giving the right amount of coverage to the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

Financial Regulations "Important" But "Hard to Understand"

Nearly nine-in-ten Americans (87%) say efforts to enact legislation dealing with regulation of banks and financial institutions are important; about the same percentage said the debate over health care was important last December (93%).

However, most people find financial reform difficult to understand, just as they did with the health care debate. About six in ten (62%) say financial reform is "hard to understand." In December 2009, 69% said the debate over health care reform was hard to understand. About three-in-ten (32%) say the current debate is easy to understand, nearly matching the 29% that said this about health care reform late last year.

A large majority says financial reform will affect them personally (72%), while six-in-ten say they find the banking legislation interesting. Last December, 80% said the health care debate would affect them personally and 70% said they found the debate interesting.

Most Say Oil Leak Getting Right Amount of Coverage

Almost six-in-ten Americans (59%) say the media are giving the right amount of coverage to the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Just 14% say this story has received too much coverage; about a quarter (24%) say it has gotten too little.

More than four-in-ten (42%) say the proposals for stricter regulation of banks and financial institutions have gotten too little coverage, while 39% say these proposals have gotten the right amount of coverage. Just 11% say this issue has gotten too much coverage.

Opinions are more divided about coverage of the Tea Party movement. A third (34%) say the movement has gotten too little coverage, 28% say it has gotten the right amount and 24% say it has gotten too much. A majority of those who agree with the Tea Party movement (52%) say it has gotten too little coverage. About three-in-ten (31%) say it has gotten the right amount of coverage and 14% say it has gotten too much.

Not surprisingly, those who disagree with the movement have a different take: 57% say it has gotten too much coverage, 29% say it has gotten the right amount and 10% say it has gotten too little.

Among partisans, 44% of Republicans say the Tea Party movement has gotten too little coverage, compared with 25% of Democrats. Nearly four-in-ten independents (38%) agree. On the other hand, 35% of Democrats say the Tea Partiers have gotten too much coverage, compared with 20% of Republicans and 18% of independents.

The Week's News

Almost half of the public (47%) say they followed news about the ongoing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico very closely last week, while 46% say this was the story they followed most closely. The week after the story broke with the deadly April 20 explosion on an off-shore oil rig, 21% said they were following very closely. That jumped to 44% the following week as oil rushed into the ocean. Two weeks ago, 58% said they were following this story very closely.

Four-in-ten say they very closely followed news about the economy, while 15% say this was the news they followed most closely. News about the economy made up 6% of coverage according to PEJ, not including news about the regulatory reform debate.

Just more than two-in-ten (22%) say they very closely followed developments in Afghanistan; 7% say this was the news they followed most closely. News about Afghanistan accounted for 3% of the newshole.

A similar percentage (23%) says they very closely followed news about the congressional elections; 5% say this was the news they followed most closely. The media devoted 18% of the newshole to the congressional elections. In October 2006, just before that year's midterm elections, 21% said they were following these stories very closely.

Among partisans, 29% of Republicans say they followed this news very closely, compared with 20% of Democrats and 22% of independents. Close to half of those who say they agree with the Tea Party movement (46%) say they followed the election news very closely. About three-in-ten (29%) of those who disagree with the movement say the same. Just 11% of those who never heard of the Tea Party movement or offered no opinion of it followed the elections very closely.

About two-in-ten (22%) of the public say they very closely followed news about proposals for stricter regulation of banks and financial institutions; 4% say they followed this news most closely. The debate over new financial regulations accounted for 5% of coverage.

Just 7% very closely followed news about the government crackdown on protesters in Thailand. This story accounted for 2% of coverage.

These findings are based on the most recent installment of the weekly News Interest Index, an ongoing project of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. The index, building on the Center's longstanding research into public attentiveness to major news stories, examines news interest as it relates to the news media's coverage. The weekly survey is conducted in conjunction with The Project for Excellence in Journalism's News Coverage Index, which monitors the news reported by major newspaper, television, radio and online news outlets on an ongoing basis. In the most recent week, data relating to news coverage were collected May 17-23, and survey data measuring public interest in the top news stories of the week were collected May 20-23, from a nationally representative sample of 1,002 adults.

View the topline and survey methodology at people-press.org.