The Things They Cared About: Change and Continuity in Americans' Attention to Different News Stories, 1989-2002

In: The Harvard international journal of press, politics, Band 9, Heft 1, S. 75-99

Abstract

Pew Research Center polls in 1989, 1996, 1998, 2000, & 2002 show that Americans pay more attention to media accounts of nonpolitical stories than those about national, international, & local politics. Although Americans' attentiveness to political news rose between 2000 & 2002, attention to media accounts of politics remained below where it had been in 1989. For the most part, the relative rankings of attentiveness to different kinds of news stories remained the same. The authors also explore the factors that predict attention to political news. Finally, heed paid to media stories about politics appears to affect two important facets of democratic citizenship: political knowledge & participation. 5 Tables, 82 References. [Copyright 2004 Sage Publications, Inc.]