Americans don’t care much about economic news.
That, for all the hand-wringing taking place 24/7, is the takeaway from a Pew Research Center survey today that shows only four in 10 tracked economic news “very closely” last week.
he public continues to express strong interest in news about the economy. More than four-in-ten (42%) tracked economic news very closely last week. Oddly, the Pew lede on the story is “The public continues to express strong interest in news about the economy.” 42%?
More tidbits from the survey:
82% said they have an interest in following stories about energy prices, but only 50% indicated they cared much about housing stories.
48% say the media stories portray the economy the way it really is. 57% of Republicans say the media makes the economy look worse than it really is.
68% say they know “some” or a “great deal” of Obama’s economic positions. 59% say the same thing about McCain’s.
Only 22% of people followed the story of flooding in the Midwest last week. Somewhat less of a percentage followed the campaign. Three times as many people followed Tim Russert’s death as the Supreme Court ruling on Guantanamo detainees having the right to challenge their imprisonment.
Bob Collins