Friday, February 20, 2009

Survey: Most Feel a Personal Stake in Tracking Economic News

From the Online Summary:
Americans continue to follow news about the economic crisis closely because they feel it is directly relevant to their lives. More than eight-in-ten (85%) say even when the economic news is bad they feel better knowing what’s going on, while 77% say they need to stay on top of economic news because it matters in the financial decisions they make.

At the same time, close to half (46%) of the public says they often feel they don’t have enough background information to follow economic news stories, according to the Pew Research Center’s weekly News Interest Index survey conducted Feb. 13-16. As the crisis takes a heavy toll on jobs, homes, retirement savings and entire communities, 49% also say the economic news seems to be the same all the time with nothing ever really changing; another 44% say they find themselves looking for lighter news as a diversion from negative economic reports.

But relatively few are turning off economic news because it is too disheartening. Fewer than three-in-ten (28%) say they often feel the news is so depressing, they would rather not hear about it.

Source: Pew Research Center for People and the Press

Download full pdf report | Download Topline Questionnaire | Link to online summary

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