Media Questions from November, 2001
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PEW RESEARCH CENTER FOR THE PEOPLE & THE PRESS JULY 2003 MEDIA UPDATE FINAL TOPLINE June 19 - July 2, 2003 N=1201 Q.1 Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president? [IF DK ENTER AS DK. IF DEPENDS PROBE ONCE WITH: Overall do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president? [IF STILL DEPENDS ENTER AS DK] Approve Disapprove Don’t know July, 2003 60 29 11=100 June, 2003 62 27 11=100 May, 2003 65 27 8=100 April 10-16, 2003 72 22 6=100 April 9, 2003 74 20 6=100 April 2-7, 2003 69 25 6=100 March 28-April 1, 2003 71 23 6=100 March 25-27, 2003 70 24 6=100 March 20-24, 2003 67 26 7=100 March 13-16, 2003 55 34 11=100 February, 2003 54 36 10=100 January, 2003 58 32 10=100 December, 2002 61 28 11=100 Late October, 2002 59 29 12=100 Early October, 2002 61 30 9=100 Mid-September, 2002 67 22 11=100 Early September, 2002 63 26 11=100 Late August, 2002 60 27 13=100 August, 2002 67 21 12=100 Late July, 2002 65 25 10=100 July, 2002 67 21 12=100 June, 2002 70 20 10=100 April, 2002 69 18 13=100 Early April, 2002 74 16 10=100 February, 2002 78 13 9=100 January, 2002 80 11 9=100 Mid-November, 2001 84 9 7=100 Early October, 2001 84 8 8=100 Late September, 2001 86 7 7=100 Mid-September, 2001 80 9 11=100 Early September, 2001 51 34 15=100 August, 2001 50 32 18=100 July, 2001 51 32 17=100 June, 2001 50 33 17=100 May, 2001 53 32 15=100 April, 2001 56 27 17=100 March, 2001 55 25 20=100 February, 2001 53 21 26=100 1 Q.2 Now I will read a list of some stories covered by news organizations this past month. As I read each item, tell me if you happened to follow this news story very closely, fairly closely, not too closely, or not at all closely. [INSERT ITEM; RANDOMIZE.] Very Fairly Not too Not at all Closely Closely Closely Closely DK/Ref a. The controversy over not finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq so far 29 36 21 13 1=100 b. News about the current situation in Iraq 37 41 13 8 1=100 June, 2003 46 35 13 6 *=100 May, 2003 63 29 6 2 *=100 April 11-16, 20031 47 40 10 2 1=100 April 2-7, 2003 54 34 9 2 1=100 March 20-24, 2003 57 33 7 2 1=100 March 13-16, 20032 62 27 6 4 1=100 February, 2003 62 25 8 4 1=100 January, 2003 55 29 10 4 2=100 December, 2002 51 32 10 6 1=100 Late October, 2002 53 33 8 5 1=100 Early October, 2002 60 28 6 5 1=100 Early September, 2002 48 29 15 6 2=100 c. Continued violence in the Middle East between the Palestinians and the Israelis 26 40 20 13 1=100 December, 2002 29 36 22 12 1=100 Early October, 2002 32 39 20 8 1=100 June, 2002 38 33 18 10 1=100 April, 2002 38 37 14 10 1=100 Early April, 2002 44 33 13 9 1=100 December, 2001 31 40 19 9 1=100 Early September, 2001 21 33 25 20 1=100 April, 20013 22 34 24 19 1=100 Mid-October, 2000 30 38 18 13 1=100 Early October, 2000 21 30 27 21 1=100 January, 1997 12 23 29 35 1=100 October, 1996 17 34 26 23 *=100 May, 1988 18 37 34 9 2=100 d. The murder of Laci Peterson, the pregnant California woman whose husband has been charged in her death 22 34 26 17 1=100 May, 2003 31 31 21 16 1=100 e. The publication of Hillary Clinton’s book about her life 8 14 25 52 1=100 1 From March 20 to April 16, 2003 the story was listed as “News about the war in Iraq.” 2 From October 2002 to March 13-16, 2003 the story was listed as “Debate over the possibility that the U.S. will take military action in Iraq.” In Early September 2002 the story was listed as “Debate over the possibility that the U.S. will invade Iraq.” 3 In April 2001 the story was listed as “Continued violence in the Middle East.” In Mid-October 2000 the story was listed as "Continued violence in the Middle East between the Palestinians and the Israelis." In Early October 2000 the story was listed as "Renewed violence in the Middle East between the Palestinians and the Israelis." In January 1997 the story was listed as "Renewed tensions between Israelis and Palestinians over Hebron." In October 1996 the story was listed as “Renewed violence between Israelis & Palestinians on the West Bank and in Jerusalem.” In May 1988 the story was listed as "The conflict in the Middle East between the Palestinians and the Israelis in the occupied territories." 2 ASK FORM 1 ONLY: ASK Q.3 ITEMS ONLY IF CORRESPONDING ITEM IN Q.2 WAS FOLLOWED VERY OR FAIRLY CLOSELY Q.3F1 In general, how would you rate the job the press has done in covering [INSERT ITEM; RANDOMIZE], excellent, good, only fair, or poor? Only Excellent Good Fair Poor DK/Ref (N) a.F1 The controversy over not finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq so far 16 34 33 15 2=100 (402) b.F1 News about the current situation in Iraq 22 42 25 9 2=100 (470) March 20-April 7, 20034 38 40 13 6 3=100 c.F1 Continued violence in the Middle East Between the Palestinians and the Israelis 20 42 25 10 3=100 (405) d.F1 The murder of Laci Peterson 27 42 20 7 4=100 (333) e.F1 The publication of Hillary Clinton’s book about her life 17 47 24 5 7=100 (137) ASK FORM 2 ONLY [N=610]: Q.4F2 Do you think news organizations are giving too much coverage, too little coverage, or the right amount of coverage to [INSERT ITEM; RANDOMIZE]? Too much Too little Right amount Don’t Know/ coverage coverage coverage Refused a.F2 The controversy over not finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq so far 30 24 40 6=100 b.F2 News about the current situation in Iraq 19 17 60 4=100 May, 2003 34 8 55 3=100 Early April, 20035 39 4 55 2=100 c.F2 Continued violence in the Middle East between the Palestinians and the Israelis 19 15 59 7=100 d.F2 The murder of Laci Peterson 39 10 40 11=100 May, 2003 39 11 39 11=100 e.F2 The publication of Hillary Clinton’s book about her life 55 7 24 14=100 4 From March 20-April 7, 2003, the story was listed as “... covering the war in Iraq.” 5 In April 2003 the story was listed as “News about the war in Iraq.” 3 ASK ALL: Q.5 Next, I’m going to read you a list of some people who have been in the news lately. Not everyone will have heard of them. For each one that I name, please tell me whether or not you have heard of this person. (First,) (INSERT NAME; RANDOMIZE NAMES), have you heard of this person or not? (IF HAVE HEARD, ASK) How much of a chance is there that you would vote for (INSERT NAME) if (he/she) is a candidate for president in 2004 — is there a good chance, some chance, or no chance? Have you heard of (NEXT NAME) or not? BASED ON REGISTERED VOTERS [N=905]: Based on Those Who Have Heard Have Have not DK/ Good Some No DK/ Heard Heard Ref. Chance Chance Chance Ref. (N) a. George W. Bush 99 * 1=100 44 19 35 2=100 (895) August, 1999 98 2 *=100 40 30 27 3=100 June, 1999 96 4 *=100 34 35 27 4=100 May, 1999 95 4 1=100 34 34 28 4=100 February, 1999 95 5 *=100 32 36 27 5=100 b. John Kerry 58 42 *=100 13 29 46 12=100 (553) May, 19996 52 46 2=100 8 37 44 11=100 February, 1999 38 61 1=100 8 37 48 7=100 c. Dick Gephardt 75 25 *=100 9 36 46 9=100 (709) d. Howard Dean 37 63 *=100 9 23 57 11=100 (350) e. John Edwards 39 60 1=100 7 29 53 11=100 (381) f. Carol Moseley Braun 36 64 *=100 10 19 63 8=100 (355) g. Dennis Kucinich 18 82 *=100 7 20 60 13=100 (176) h. Bob Graham 56 43 1=100 8 25 57 10=100 (524) i. Joe Lieberman 83 16 1=100 13 32 47 8=100 (772) j. Al Sharpton 66 34 *=100 5 12 77 6=100 (629) Q.6 Compared with the past presidents, do you feel that Bill Clinton will turn out to have been one of the very best, better than most, not as good as most, or definitely worse than most of them? ------------ NBC/WSJ ----------- Jan March Jan Dec Jan 2002 2001 2001 2000 1999 14 One of the very best 12 13 16 13 12 35 Better than most 39 39 40 44 38 28 Not as good as most 25 23 24 24 26 18 Definitely worse than most 19 23 18 16 19 5 Not sure 5 2 2 3 5 100 100 100 100 100 100 6 In May, 1999 he was identified as "Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts." 4 On a different subject… Q.7 How have you been getting most of your news about national and international issues? From television, from newspapers, from radio, from magazines, or from the Internet? [ACCEPT TWO ANSWERS: IF ONLY ONE RESPONSE IS GIVEN, PROBE FOR ADDITIONAL RESPONSE] Mid- Early Early March Feb Jan Jan Sept Sept Feb Oct Jan Jan Sept Jan Sept Jan Jan 20037 2003 2003 2002 20018 2001 2001 1999 1999 1996 19959 1994 1993 1993 199110 79 Television 89 83 81 82 90 74 76 80 82 88 82 83 83 83 82 45 Newspapers 24 42 44 42 11 45 40 48 42 61 63 51 60 52 40 16Radio 191922211418161918252015171715 5Magazines * 4 4 3 * 6 4 5 4 8 1010 9 5 4 19 Internet 11 15 17 14 5 13 10 11 6 -- -- -- -- -- -- 1Other (VOL) 2 3 2 2 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 5 3 1 1 * Don't know/Ref * * 1 * 1 * 1 * * * 1 1 * 1 * IF RESPONDENT ANSWERED '1' TELEVISION AS EITHER 1ST OR 2ND RESPONSE IN Q.7 ASK Q.7a.