2009-01-22-皮尤-Plane_Crash_Draws_As_Much_Interest_As_Economy_10页_54kb

US Airways Flight 1549 Hudson River Crash News Interest Summary

1. Event Popularity:
   The crash of US Airways Flight 1549 was followed closely by 25% of Americans last week, tying with the economic crisis. It is considered one of the most closely followed stories of the week.

2. Comparison to Economic News:
   Economic news was followed by 23% of Americans, which is about the same as last month. Currently, only 43% follow economic news very closely, down from 70% in September; interest in "very closely" followed the US Airways crash.

3. Incident News Interest History:
   Compared with other flight/transportation accidents from the past, only the July 1996 TWA crash (69% followed very closely) was more closely followed. The October 2001 American Airlines crash was followed by 48%.

4. Public Perception of Economic News:
   Most Americans (67%) are hearing "mostly bad news" during this period, slightly down from early December (80% mostly bad). Four in ten (43%) still follow economic news closely.

5. Overall News Monitoring:
   Other news topics that have significant public attention include the conflict in Gaza (12%), cold weather (9%), presidential inauguration planning (13%), and debate over economic policies (6%). These drew interest from 12–24% of the public.

6. Demographic Differences:

   • Women were more likely to list the US Airways crash as their top story (31%), while men were more concerned with the economy (26%) or the crash (19%).
   • Younger people (18–29) cited inauguration preparations (27%) as the most closely followed story—twice the rate of older age groups.

This survey, part of the Pew Research News Interest Index, gauges public attention to top news events and contrasts them with major media coverage about the same topics.