Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Public Focus Remains on Egypt

February 23, 2011

The public's interest in developments in Egypt remained high last week as the media focused increasingly on domestic debates over how to deal with the fiscal troubles facing many states and how to bring down the federal deficit.

About a third of the public (32%) says they followed news about the situation in Egypt more closely than any other news story last week. That is down from 48% one week earlier, but still ranks -- by a wide margin -- as the public's top story for the week, according to the latest News Interest Index survey conducted Feb. 17-20 among 1,001 adults. And, as unrest grew in nations like Libya and Bahrain, another 3% say they followed news about anti-government protests elsewhere in the region most closely.

But the public also kept a close watch on several economic story lines. Fully 14% say news about the economy was their top story of the week. Another 14% say they most closely followed news about state and local budget problems, and 8% say they followed discussions in Washington about how to address the federal budget deficit this closely.

Together, the economic themes topped news coverage last week, making up a total of 35% of the newshole examined by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ). Coverage of state budget problems, most notably the noisy confrontations in Wisconsin over the governor's push to curtail collective bargaining rights for public employees, accounted for 16%, while the debate in Washington over the federal budget accounted for 14%. More general news about the economy totaled 5% of coverage.

Meanwhile, coverage of unrest in the Middle East and northern Africa (including Egypt) fell to 26% of the newshole; 9% focused on Egypt and 17% dealt with protests in other nations, including Iran. One week before that, unrest in the region accounted for 40% of coverage, with most focused on Egypt. The week of Jan. 31-Feb. 6, coverage of the crisis in the Middle East made up 56% of the newshole, the highest level for an international story since PEJ started its weekly media analysis four years ago.

Most Aware of Lara Logan Attack, Wisconsin Protests

Slightly more than a quarter (27%) say they heard a lot last week about CBS correspondent Lara Logan being attacked while covering events in Egypt. Another 42% say they heard a little about this, while 31% say they heard nothing at all. Women were more likely than men to say they heard a lot about this story (31% vs. 22%).

About as many (26%) say they heard a lot about protests in Wisconsin over bargaining rights for government employee unions. A third (34%) say they heard a little about this, while 40% say they heard nothing at all.

Just more than two-in-ten (22%) say they heard a lot about the computer named Watson that beat two human challengers on the game show "Jeopardy!"; 35% say they heard a little and 42% say they heard nothing at all.

Comparable numbers say they had heard about the possibility that the federal government could shut down this year if Congress and President Obama cannot agree on a budget. About two-in-ten (21%) say they heard a lot about this, 35% say they heard a little and 44% say they heard nothing at all. Roughly equal numbers of Republicans (23%), Democrats (19%) and independents (25%) say they heard a lot about this story.

Nearly two-in-ten (18%) say they heard a lot about the bookstore chain Borders filing for bankruptcy protections, 36% say they heard a little about this and 46% say they heard nothing at all.

Just 9% say they heard a lot about businessman Donald Trump hinting that he might run for president in the 2012 elections; 44% say they heard a little about this, while 47% had heard nothing at all. Republicans were more likely to have heard a lot about this story (15%) than either Democrats (6%) or independents (7%).

The Week's News

Americans maintain a steady interest in news about the still-struggling economy. More than a third (35%) say they followed news about the economy very closely last week, a number little changed since mid-December. About a quarter say they followed news about state and local budget problems (28%) or the federal budget deficit (27%) that closely.

In early December, immediately after the president's deficit commission released its recommendations, 35% said they were following news about the federal deficit very closely. At that point, partisans showed comparable levels of interest (36% for Democrats, 36% for Republicans and 34% for independents). In the current survey, there is little change among Republicans or independents (32% each), while the number of Democrats following this news very closely has dropped to 23%.

About a third of the public (34%) says they followed news about the situation in Egypt very closely; about four-in-ten (39%) said this one week earlier. Another 20% say they followed news about anti-government protests in other Middle Eastern and North African nations very closely last week.

Just 6% say they very closely followed news about Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi facing charges for allegedly paying for sex with a 17-year-old girl; 1% say this was the story they followed most closely. News about Berlusconi's legal troubles made up 1% 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 Feb. 14-20, and survey data measuring public interest in the top news stories of the week were collected Feb. 17-20, from a nationally representative sample of 1,001 adults.

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