Top 15 US ‘public opinion’ stories
p2pnet news | Off Topic:- Judging by the amount of mainstream media and Bush administration attention lavished on entertainment cartel puff pieces reported as credible news releases, online ‘piracy’ and file sharing must have been at, or close to, the top of the list of items of serious national interest in America during the year.
Yes?
Public opinion played an important role in shaping many of 2007’s major news stories, says the Pew Research Center in what was, and wasn’t , on the public’s mind in 2007.
But, putting things into perspective, self-serving and hysterical rants from Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG, members of the Big 4 organised music cartel, and ‘Hollywood’ in the shape of Time Warner, Viacom, Fox, Sony, NBC Universal and Disney didn’t even register.
Say Carroll Doherty, associate director, Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, and Andrew Kohut, president, Pew Research Center, “Economic concerns remained high on the public’s worry list but focused less exclusively on rising gasoline prices, and more on rising income inequality, going on:
“Overall, the speed-up in the presidential primary season meant that politics claimed more of the public’s attention than is usually the case in a non-election year, and open races in both parties produced a number of surprises. A new generation began to put its mark on the society as views of marriage and parenthood continued to mutate. Muslim Americans continued to meld into the U.S. mainstream, but doubts about the future and feelings of racial divide were on the upswing among African Americans.
“Meanwhile the world cast an even more dubious eye on America but moved toward no consensus as to which country or countries would be a desirable counterbalancing power to U.S. hegemony.”
All year the Big’s RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) and Hollywood’s MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) have been claiming copyright infractions are having a dire effect on the economies not only in the US, but around the world.
In fact, intellectual property and/or copyright concerns weren’t mentioned anywhere in Pew’s top 15 stories in which public opinion played a significant role.
So what were the leading items of public concern? We’ve listed them in brief below. Click here for the full Monty.
1. A Sour Public Mood
Considerable public anxiety was in evidence in 2007. The proportion of Americans satisfied with national conditions hovered around 30%, as did President Bush’s performance ratings.
2. A Political Landscape Favoring Democrats
Democrats headed into the presidential election year heartened by a mostly congenial political landscape. Fully half of Americans (50%) identified with or leaned toward the Democratic Party, compared with just 36% who affiliated with the Republican Party.
3. GOP Blues
Not only has the Republican Party lost ground to the Democrats in partisan affiliation, on image and on issues, but grumbling emerged among rank-and-file Republicans over the quality of the GOP presidential field and the party’s adherence to conservative principles.
4. Huck of a Surprise
In February, just 3% of Republican voters said there was a “good chance” they would vote for the former Arkansas governor, placing him behind Sam Brownback, Jim Gilmore and Tommy Thompson. Those three one-time candidates have all vanished from the field, but Huckabee is still there. In fact, by year’s end, Huckabee’s support was surging in Iowa and in the national polls.
5. Coronation Interrupted
For most of 2007, Hillary Clinton was the clear frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination. The New York senator forged to the lead in spite of her relatively high unfavorable ratings. And from April to August, Clinton’s lead over Barack Obama, her closest rival, doubled in Pew’s national survey. Yet by year’s end, Clinton found herself in a fierce battle with Obama in the all-important early primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire.
6. Unease about Mormons
Perhaps if Mitt Romney had never run for president, or were a marginal candidate, questions about his religion would not have assumed such importance. But with Romney mounting a serious bid for the GOP nomination, the unease that many Americans feel about Mormonism and its beliefs became a major political issue.
7. A Better View of Iraq, Up to a Point…
For years, public views of the war in Iraq were increasingly negative and seemingly unlikely to change direction. But as the troop surge resulted in lower levels of violence in Iraq, public perceptions of the war improved markedly.
8. Optimism about Black Progress at 24-Year Low
For the first time in the nation’s history, an African American was a serious contender for the White House. Despite that symbolic milestone, and more tangible signs of black progress, a major Pew study found blacks less upbeat about the state of black America than at any time since 1983.
9. Income Inequality Concerns Rise
Public attitudes about the economy were battered by a series of crises – increasing mortgage foreclosures, a credit crunch, stock market gyrations and rising energy costs. Yet a more fundamental shift in economic opinions also was evident in 2007: a growing proportion of the public said that America was divided between economic “haves” and the “have-nots.”
10. America’s Mainstream Muslims
Most Muslim-Americans are relative newcomers to the United States, but a comprehensive survey of U.S. Muslims found them to be largely assimilated, happy with their lives, holding a positive view of American society and placing a high value on hard work. At the same time, Muslim Americans are highly critical of America’s anti-terrorism policies.
11. Gen Next: Democratic, Tech Savvy and Tattooed
They have come of age in the era of Osama, iPods and MySpace. They are both more digitized and politically liberal than their elders. Meet “Generation Next,” those between the ages of 18 and 25. Like previous generations of young people, they are upbeat and optimistic. They are also the most tolerant of any generation on such social issues as immigration, race and homosexuality.
12. A Happier Planet
The Pew Global Attitude Project’s 47-nation survey found striking increases in satisfaction with life, family incomes and feelings of personal progress in countries where economic growth has been strong.
13. Discontent with Global Powers
The news about America’s global image was less positive – anti-Americanism remains pervasive, as it has since 2002. However, the United States does not stand alone as an unpopular world power: China’s image has fallen, while favorable views of Russian President Vladimir Putin have declined sharply.13
14. Marriage and Parenthood Less Closely Linked
Over the past generation, the bonds between marriage and parenthood have weakened. Just 41% of Americans now say that children are “very important” to a marriage, down from 65% in 1990. Equally striking, children have fallen to No. 8 on a list of nine items that people associate with successful marriages – well behind “faithfulness,” a “happy sexual relationship,” and even “sharing household chores.”14
15. No Smarter, No Dumber
The internet was supposed to revolutionize the way Americans get their news and make them much more knowledgeable about current affairs. Wrong. On average, today’s citizens are about as able to name their leaders, and are about as aware of major news events, as was the public nearly 20 years ago. The good news is that at least Americans do not know any less than they did two decades ago.
Now you know.
Also See:
Pew Research Center – What Was – and Wasn’t – On the Public’s Mind in 2007, December 19, 2007
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December 20th, 2007 at 11:11 am
“The good news is that at least Americans do not know any less than they did two decades ago.” they knew nothing then and nothing now(a few exeptions)
ask Americans about non US politics and its a compleat blank or very funny.