2009-03-11-皮尤-Many_Would_Shrug_if_Their_Local_Newspaper_Closed_12页_60kb

News Release Summary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, March 12, 2009

Key Findings:

1. Local Newspapers & Civic Life:

   • Only 43% of Americans feel the loss of a local newspaper would significantly hurt civic life.
   • This percentage is higher among:
     • Older Americans (41% vs 31% young adults <40).
     • Democrats and Independents (49% and 47% see "a lot" of hurt vs 33% of Republicans).
   • Reasons provided for potential hurt include: reliance for local news, community having only one paper, economic impact.
   • Reasons for minimal impact include: availability of other news sources, poor newspaper quality, preferring other formats, not being affected personally or others.

2. Economic and Health News:

   • Economic crisis (stock market drops, unemployment) and President Obama's health care reform plan ("$630 billion fund") dominated news interest and media coverage.
   • The health care reform plan saw the highest public interest (41% followed very closely), despite receiving only 4% of total media coverage. Higher interest among Democrats.
   • Unemployment rate remained a high interest story (42% followed very closely). Stock market drops also attracted significant interest (35%).
   • Coverage share percentages confirmed by the PEJ analysis.

3. Rush Limbaugh Controversy:

   • The debate over Limbaugh's influence drew significant media attention (8% of news coverage) but only 15% of the public followed it closely.
   • Republicans showed more interest (21% followed closely).
   • It attracted the least public interest among the tracked stories ("top story" for only 4%).
   • PEJ attributed peak media interest to cable news and radio.

4. Newspaper Viability (Public Awareness):

   • Awareness of newspaper financial problems is high; about half (53%) of Americans say they have heard "a lot" about these issues.

5. News Sources & Newspaper Usage:

   • Local TV remains the primary source for local news (68%).
   • Newspapers (traditional/digital) are a second source for local news (48%).
   • Fewer young people use newspapers regularly (27% of Gen Y).
   • Fewer young people report missing newspapers much or at all if they disappeared (23%).

6. Coverage vs. Interest:

   • Content analysis (PEJ) determined the top story was the ongoing economic crisis (43% of coverage), followed by the Limbaugh controversy (8%). Health care reform received the least media share (4%).

Methodology:

• Data from the Pew Research Center's News Interest Index survey (Mar 6-9, 2009).
• The survey gauges public interest in news stories and compares it to media coverage volume.
• Data collected separately for public interest surveys (Mar 6-9) and media coverage analysis (Mar 2-8).