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Between 1998 and 2006, a new style of television news consumption was born: 'news grazing.' With remote control devices in hand, 'grazers' flip through TV news channels in order to find interesting news stories. Approximately three-fifths of the public graze, and this group tends to be younger than non-grazers. Grazers are less likely than the rest of the public to follow 'hard' news about politics and economics, and, not surprisingly, they are even less knowledgeable about public affairs than most people are. Adapted from the source document.

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.]

Pew Research Center polls in 1989, 1996, 1998, 2000, and 2002 show that Americans pay more attention to media accounts of nonpolitical stories than those about national, international, and local politics. Although Americans' attentiveness to political news rose between 2000 and 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 and participation.

With the 2004 European Parliament elections approaching, it is useful to consider what affects voting in these elections. This paper addresses the puzzle of declining turnout in European Parliament elections. After reviewing the influential "second order elections" explanation emphasizing domestic influences on turnout, especially Mark Franklin's recent study stressing the importance of electoral salience factors, we develop a revised model to incorporate EU as well as domestic variables. Our model indicates that EU influences, at least on the aggregate level, may have more influence on EP elections than previously reported. Tests of our model for the first five EP elections, 1979 through 1999, find that it provides an alternative explanation of turnout similar in power to Franklin's model. Because of changes in membership of the EU, our alternative model may be preferable for explaining future turnout variation in EU elections.

This study applies the knowledge gap theory to the American public's knowledge of the Bosnian civil war between September 1992—when the conflict was in its early days—through June 1995. Our goal was to determine if a knowledge gap existed in the case of the Bosnian civil war, and if so, whether it increased or decreased over time. Times Mirror Center polls clearly establish that the better educated knew more about Bosnia from September 1992 through June 1995. But people from all educational levels showed dramatic improvements in knowledge. The so-called knowledge gap declined rather than increased. Our surprising results may be due to the changing context and duration of the conflict. Attention to the Bosnia crisis increased over these 3 years, with people from all backgrounds more motivated to pay attention. In addition, the nightly network news provided frequent coverage of Bosnia. Thus, all segments of the American public learned more about the crisis.

Data from Great Britain and the United States from the late 1950s to the early 1990s show
relatively little change in the frequency with which citizens engage in political discussions, with
whom they are likely to speak, and the variables that shape their propensity to engage in political
talk. In addition, analyses of the data show that discussing politics enhances citizens' knowledge
of public affairs, even net of other variables known to affect political knowledge. Students of
political behaviour and those interested in strengthening democracy need to treat political
discussions as an important form of political participation.

Data from Great Britain and the United States from the late 1950s to the early 1990s show relatively little change in the frequency with which citizens engage in political discussions, with whom they are likely to speak, and the variables that shape their propensity to engage in political talk. In addition, analyses of the data show that discussing politics enhances citizens' knowledge of public affairs, even net of other variables known to affect political knowledge. Students of political behaviour and those interested in strengthening democracy need to treat political discussions as an important form of political participation. (British Journal of Political Science / FUB)

The Bosnian civil war offers an opportunity to examine the American public's attitudes toward foreign policy problems in the post-cold war era. We use polls conducted for the Times Mirror/Pew Research Center for the People and the Press from 1992 to 1996 and indicators of media coverage of Bosnia to analyze trends in public attention to and knowledge of the conflict. As expected, events, media coverage, public attention to that coverage, and knowledge of the conflict are related. Knowledge rises over time, but the increase is greatest among the most educated. Greater knowledge also produced differing policy preferences. The more knowledgeable Americans were, the more they sympathized with the Bosnian Muslims. The relationship between knowledge and support for more aggressive U.S. options, however, was mixed. The data on Bosnia suggest that the public can become interested in foreign policy in the post-cold war era, but we cannot predict the duration of that interest.

This article explores the "video-malaise" thesis, which asserts that a combination of negative political coverage by the press and exposure to the media lead to political cynicism at the grass roots. Data from the 1996 National Election Study and a 1997 Pew Research Center poll show that the traditional video-malaise notion needs to be revised. Jaundiced views of government and of the media co-vary, raising the possibility that the public views both government and the media in the same vein.

This article explores the "video-malaise" thesis, which asserts that a combination of negative political coverage by the press & exposure to the media lead to political cynicism at the grass roots. Data from the 1996 National Election Study & a 1997 Pew Research Center poll show that the traditional video-malaise notion needs to be revised. Jaundiced views of government & of the media co-vary, raising the possibility that the public views both government & the media in the same vein. 1 Table, 68 References. Adapted from the source document.