ANALYSIS & DOCUMENTATION: PEW stats on Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly & the Media!
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on August 1, 2006 - 3:29am.
Rapid Response
Hello Everyone:
Please see below what Rush Limbaugh is boasting about on his website now how that "Rush Limbaugh Audience Among Most Knowledgeable and Educated in All of American Media." Right below Rush Limbaugh's article is the PEW Research Center link and article that Limbaugh quotes from which documents his claims!
I hope that this will be a wake up call to all Democrats and even to moderate Republicans about how powerful of a media force and influence over people that Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, and that Neocon "talk radio" are now! Just look for yourself at how heavily that the RNC depends on them:
http://www.gop.com/GetActive/CallTalkRadio.aspx
If too many Democratic candidates cannot connect their messages to the voters and if they lose their races to Bush rubber stamp GOP candidates, this media problem will be a big reason why it happened and why Democrats may not take back power in at least one branch of Congress in 2006 despite the very low poll numbers of Bush and the GOP controlled Congress and with how bad that things are now in Iraq!
Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, and this very powerful Neocon "talk radio" media prevent many Democrats from connecting their messages to the voters by acting as apologists for the GOP's problems, by encouraging single issue voting by pushing wedge issues and telling people to give the GOP a free pass on their problems over a particular wedge issue, by talking constantly about non-news items such as the Natalee Holloway and Duke Rape Cases along with a few isolated judges and professors who do and say some stupid things, painting and defining Democrats and even moderate Republicans who do not play ball with the Neocon GOP leadership however they choose to by quoting a few isolated and out of the mainstream examples while giving their own members (such as Ann Coulter) a free pass on their problems, and by using fear tactics and questioning people's patriotism if they do not vote for GOP Bush rubber stamp candidates!
This is one of the main reasons why John Kerry lost in 2004 to Bush who was a lousy candidate and is one of the main things that is keeping Bush and GOP rubber stamp candidate's heads above water now politically despite their low poll numbers when they should be sinking as fast as a heavy anchor. If it is not Rush Limbaugh and this very powerful Neocon media that are keeping Bush and his GOP rubber stamp candidates in the race now, then please tell me what else is doing it?
When will Democratic leaders and even moderate Republican leaders realize what is happening, get up off of their butts, and finally do something about this in an organized way by setting up some kind of a serious and credible rapid response system to deal with this media issue? Why do they continually take the crap that Rush Limbaugh and people like him constantly dish out and almost never fight back when they are influencing so many impressionable people which can turn elections?
While this extreme right wing media fire can probably never be totally put out due to how powerful that it is, it can be contained if something serious is done. That is because while the extremist Neocons in the GOP may be the current majority of the Republican Party, they are still the minority of the country because there are more Democrats and moderate Republicans than there are GOP Neocon extremists!
Democrats and even Moderate Republicans who ignore this important media issue do so at their own peril and at the risk of extremist GOP Neocons staying in power and ruling this country the way that it is now (which means more war, more lack of serious diplomacy, and more arrogance toward the rest of the world) for a long time to come unless something is done to seriously and credibly deal with this!
Please forward this on for all people to see and be aware of so that we can connect our message with more voters in the 2006 elections and hopefully win back power in at least one branch of Congress!
Mitch Dworkin
http://www.securingamerica.com/
http://www.securingamerica.com/ccn/node/7191
Listen to Gen. Wes Clark fight for Dems on Sean Hannity's radio program:
An excellent example for all of us to follow and what we all need to be doing to help fight against extreme right wing Neocon smear propaganda which will help our local candidates to win their races!
http://securingamerica.com/webb
Gen. Wes Clark's endorsement of Jim Webb against George Allen
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http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_073106/content/see_i_told_you_so.guest.html
Rush Limbaugh Audience Among Most
Knowledgeable and Educated in All of American Media
July 31, 2006
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT 
RUSH: I just got this, and I'm not able to study it and really make a whole lot of sense out of it. It's a Pew survey on who watches television and what the partisan political split of various TV show audiences is and all. You get down to what the Pew -- P-e-w -- survey of this stuff, you get down to one section, who's got the smartest, who has the most knowledgeable audience, and on television -- just listen to what this says. "On television, The O'Reilly Factor, has the most knowledgeable audience, 27% of the audience are college grads, which matches the national average," but, but:
Only three audiences in the Pew survey scored higher on high knowledge than O'Reilly at his Factor TV show. Regular readers of The New Yorker and the Atlantic, regular Rush Limbaugh listeners, and regular Weekly Standard and New Republic readers. I don't know if there's anybody above that. I don't have that, because radio and this stuff is not part of the survey, at least from the website that I'm reading this from. But I have always known it. I have always known that you people are among the most knowledgeable, engaged, informed, and educated people listening to any media in the country today. I think I found documented evidence of it here from Pew, but it's just a little aside in a story about television audiences.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: I had some time to dig deep into this Pew survey for People and the Press, and it starts out here by saying, "News audiences vary widely in age, education, and how much they know about what's going on in the nation and the world." Then there's a ranking here of various television programs. At any rate: "Judged by their answers to three knowledge questions, the most informed audiences belong to the political magazines, Rush Limbaugh's radio show, The O'Reilly Factor, news magazines, and online news sources. Close behind are the regular audiences for NPR and The Daily Show."
It doesn't look good for the major broadcast networks. At any rate, education, age, and knowledge. College grads, this program number two, at 37%. The average age of the audience of this program, 51, and the high knowledge score is 48, and it's number two. This program, number two in all of American media in education and knowledge. It is preceded only by the Weekly Standard and New Republic readers, 38% college grads, 38 is the average age. The libs are dragging us down a little bit. Eh, the libs may be dragging down the Weekly Standard a bit.
END TRANSCRIPT
Read the Background Material...
(Pew Research Center Study on News Audiences)
http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?PageID=1068
*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.
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http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?PageID=1068
Online Papers Modestly Boost Newspaper Readership
Maturing Internet News Audience Broader Than Deep
Navigate this report Section 4: Audience Segments That represents a significant shift from 2004, when 52% said they followed international news most of the time. However, the current measure is consistent with findings from earlier news consumption surveys.
Overview
Section 1: Watching, Reading and Listening to the News
Section 2: The Challenge for Newspapers
Section 3: Attitudes Toward the News
Section 4: Audience Segments
Section 5: Media Credibility
Section 6: Other Findings
Detailed Demographic Tables 
Topline Questionnaire 
Majorities of Americans say they follow local news (57%) and national news (55%) most of the time, not just when important events occur. But the opposite is true for international news just 39% say they follow overseas news most of the time, compared with 58% who follow it only when something important happens. 
The spike in regular attention to foreign news in April 2004 came during a particularly tumultuous period in Iraq. Since then, interest in news from Iraq has fallen, as has the percentage saying they regularly track overseas news.
Notably, interest in foreign news has declined most among many of the same demographic and political groups that showed the biggest increases two years ago. The percentage of women saying they follow international news most of the time rose from 32% in 2002 to 51% in 2004; since then, it has fallen to 34%, which has led to a reopening of the gender gap on this measure.
Similarly, educational differences in the regular audience for international news have re-emerged. Half of college graduates say they follow overseas events most of the time, compared with a third of those with a high school education or less. And while regular interest in foreign news increased more among Republicans than Democrats or independents between 2002 and 2004, it also has fallen much more among Republicans since then.
Where Foreign News Consumers Go
Several news outlets stand out for their success in attracting news consumers who follow international news most of the time, and not just when something important happens. The websites of major national newspapers such as USA Today.com, New York Times.com, and the Wall Street Journal online have especially large numbers of regular foreign news consumers. More than three-quarters (77%) of those regularly visiting such sites say they follow international news most of the time regardless of whether something important is happening.
Other internet audiences disproportionately drawn to foreign news include those of network TV news sites such as CNN.com, ABCNews.com, and MSNBC.com (70%), as well as those who regularly visit websites such as Google News, AOL News, and Yahoo News (67%).
Among television news sources, C-SPAN (71%), Sunday morning interview programs (69%), the O'Reilly Factor (70%), and the NewsHour (68%) have especially large numbers of international news consumers. In the print media, political magazines such as the Weekly Standard and the New Republic (72%) and literary magazines such as The Atlantic, Harpers, and The New Yorker (68%) stand out for their high proportion of foreign news consumers. But so too do business magazines such as Fortune and Forbes (67%). 
Weather Tops News Interests
The overall pattern of public news interest has remained fairly steady over the years, although there have been recent declines in interest in both news about international affairs and news about political figures and events in Washington, DC. Fully half of Americans say they track weather news very closely, by far the highest percentage for any subject listed.
The percentage who say they follow news about international affairs (17%) is now at its lowest point since 2000 (14%). Similarly, the percentage tracking political news very closely has fallen from 24% two years ago to 17%. The current measure is even a bit below the 21% recorded in 2002, the most recent midterm election.
The News Gender Gap
Men and women not only go to different places for news, but the topics they follow are often different as well. Men dominate the audience not only for sports news but also for news about science and technology, business and finance, and international affairs. More men than women are also found among those who closely follow news events and people in Washington, DC, as well as among those who say they pay close attention to news about local government.
But women greatly outnumber men among those who closely follow news about religion, health, and entertainment. They are also disproportionately represented among those paying close attention to community news and to news about culture and the arts. Men and women are about equally likely to be found among the audiences for crime, weather, and consumer news. The upshot of these differences is that men are significantly more likely to be regular consumers of "hard news" 32% vs. 22% for women. This orientation is reflected in their choices among different kinds of news media and in preferences among specific sources.
Men are significantly more likely than women to regularly turn to the internet, to radio news, talk radio, and to newspapers. By contrast, women are substantially more likely to regularly watch morning network news shows, and are somewhat more likely to turn to television news in a variety of forms.
Looking at specific news outlets and sources, men significantly outnumber women in the regular audiences for business magazines, political magazines such as The Weekly Standard and New Republic, Rush Limbaugh's radio program, and also the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. For each of these, men constitute more than 60% of the audience. Men are also significantly more numerous (at 58%) among the regular viewers of CNBC and C-SPAN and among daily internet news consumers. They are also disproportionately represented in the audience for talk radio, for literary and political magazines such as the Atlantic and New Yorker, and for late night television.
By contrast, women constitute a much larger share of the audience for religious radio (66% of the regular audience), the morning network television news shows (64%), and for the MSNBC cable channel. They also outnumber men among the regular audiences for TV news magazine shows such as Dateline and 60 Minutes, and for Larry King Live.
Knowledgeable News Audiences
News audiences vary widely in age, education, and how much they know about what's going on in the nation and the world. Most regular consumers of news are better informed, better educated, and older than the average American. But the audiences for some news sources stand out in this respect.
Judged by their answers to three news knowledge questions2, the most informed audiences belong to the political magazines, Rush Limbaugh's radio show, the O'Reilly Factor, news magazines, and online news sources. Close behind are the regular audiences for NPR and the Daily Show.
Audiences with the highest educational achievement, by far, are the literary magazines and online news outlets. Readers of news magazines, political magazines and business magazines, listeners of Rush Limbaugh and NPR, and viewers of the Daily Show, and C-SPAN also are much more likely than the average person to have a college degree.
Some of these attentive and educated audiences also are older than average. The oldest audiences belong to the NewsHour (60% age 50 or older), the O'Reilly Factor (58%), Larry King Live (56%), network nightly news (54%), and Sunday morning talk shows (52%). The youngest audience though also one of the most knowledgeable belongs to the Daily Show, where just 23% are age 50 or older and 33% are under age 30.
After growing modestly between 2000 and 2004, the attentive audience for political, international, and business news commonly referred to as "hard news" is somewhat smaller in 2006. Currently, 27% of the public follows each of four kinds of stories, including news about political figures and events in Washington, international affairs, business and finance, and local government. Two years ago, this hard news audience accounted for 31% of the public. The decline was greater among Republicans (now 29%, down from 38% in 2004) than among other groups. Republicans and Democrats (28%) now exhibit similar enthusiasm for hard news.
The hard news audience is better educated and older than the average, though even among people with four year college degrees, fewer than a majority (39%) fall into this category. More men than women (32% vs. 22%) are hard news enthusiasts. There is no significant racial difference on this measure.
Notes
2The three questions asked respondents which party has a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives (Republicans); the name of the current U.S. Secretary of State (Condoleezza Rice); the name of the current president of Russia (Vladimir Putin). See Section VI, "Other Findings," for further analysis of the public's knowledge of these items.
Navigate this report
Overview
Section 1: Watching, Reading and Listening to the News
Section 2: The Challenge for Newspapers
Section 3: Attitudes Toward the News
Section 4: Audience Segments
Section 5: Media Credibility
Section 6: Other Findings
Detailed Demographic Tables
Topline Questionnaire
The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press
1615 L Street, NW Suite 700 Washington, DC 20036
p 202.419.4350 f 202.419.4399 e info@people-press.org
About Methodology Useful Links
The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press is one of six projects that make up the The Pew Research Center. The Center is supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?PageID=837
News Audiences Increasingly Politicized
Online News Audience Larger, More Diverse
Navigate this report
Overview
I. Where Americans Go for News
II. The Changing Online News Audience
III. International News Audience Broader, Not Deeper
IV. Attitudes Toward the News
V. Media Credibility Declines
About the Surveys
Media Tables
Questionnaire Part 1
Questionnaire Part 2
IV. Attitudes Toward the News
Most Americans pay only a moderate amount of attention to what is traditionally referred to as hard news coverage of international affairs, politics and events in Washington, local government, and business and finance. A smaller group of news consumers less than a third of the public (31%) consistently focuses on these types of stories. At the other end of the spectrum, about one-in-ten Americans (13%) do not follow these subjects at all, preferring other kinds of news or no news at all.
Over the past eight years, the hard news audience has ranged in size from a low of 24% in 2000 to its current level of 31%, with the increase over the past four years driven largely by the rise in interest in international news. While a minority overall, these hard news enthusiasts make up a majority of the audience for a number of news programs, and express distinctly different attitudes and preferences about what they want in the news.
The attentive audience for political, international and financial news tends to be better educated and middle-aged. Whites and blacks express comparable levels of interest (32% for whites, 35% for blacks), but Hispanics are less apt to follow hard news closely (23%). Republicans pay somewhat more attention (at 38%) than do Democrats or independents (30% each).
Young people those age 18-24 are considerably more likely than those in other age groups to be disengaged from hard news, with 25% saying they do not follow any of the four types of news. More people in this age group pay no attention to hard news than express strong interest (25% vs. 16%). By comparison, far fewer people in their late 20s (age 25-29) are disengaged from hard news (14%). The highest level of attention is seen among those aged 50-64, where 42% are highly attentive.
Where Hard News Consumers Go
Most news organizations attract a wide range of news consumers, including the hard news core and those who are less interested in such news. But some stand out for their high proportion of hard news viewers and readers. Among the regular audiences for broadcast programs, Rush Limbaugh's radio show (56% attentive), the Sunday morning interview programs (52%), the NewsHour (52%), the O'Reilly Factor (49%), and Larry King Live (48%) have especially large numbers of hard news consumers.
In the print media, the regular audience for business magazines stands out for its high proportion of the hard news consumers (68%). But so too do the readers of political magazines such as the New Republic and the National Review (58% attentive), the weekly news magazines such as Time and Newsweek (52%), and literary magazines such as the New Yorker, the Atlantic, and Harper's (51%).
And the regular audiences for news from Internet sources also are disproportionately made up of those interested in hard news. Nearly six-in-ten (58%) of those who log on to the websites of national newspapers are hard news consumers. Among those who regularly read online political magazines such as Slate.com and the National Review.com, 52% fall into this category. So do large proportions of the audiences for network TV news websites (47% highly attentive), local TV websites (46%), and the news pages of Internet hosts such as AOL and Yahoo (43%).
How People Like Their News
Beyond the types of news that interest people, the choices made by news audiences are driven by two general kinds of preferences. One is how they like to get the news, including choices with regard to schedule and format. The other is what people want in news content, including choices among levels of detail, ideological viewpoints, debate and argument, humor, and human interest.
Americans' busy lifestyles, combined with on-demand news sources, means that people fit news into their schedules in different ways. About half (52%) say they mostly get their news at regular times of the day, while nearly as many (46%) say they are more the kind of person who checks in on the news from time to time. These attitudes have been stable since 2002.
Older Americans express a preference for getting the news at regular times, a function both of the news habits they grew up with and a more settled lifestyle. By nearly two-to-one (65%-33%), those age 65 and older say they watch or listen to the news at regular times. By contrast, the youngest respondents in the survey those 18 to 24 show exactly the opposite pattern, with 68% saying they generally check in on the news from time to time (just 29% watch or listen at regular times). Getting news on a more regular schedule is also characteristic of college-educated people.
Most Americans watching TV news keep the remote control handy, flipping to other channels when they are not interested in the topic of the moment. Overall, 62% of the public says they watch the news this way, a habit that has neither grown nor dissipated over the past six years. Even among those who get the news on a regular schedule as opposed to those who check in from time to time 54% say that the channel changer is often at hand. Among the news grazers, a solid majority (72%) say they watch the news with their remotes at the ready.
Overall, fewer than one-in-four Americans (23%) are steady news watchers, saying they watch on a regular schedule and don't flip channels. At the other end of the spectrum are 33% who truly graze the news checking in from time to time when convenient, and ready to change the channel whenever they don't find the subject interesting.
Appointment News vs. Grazing
People who get the news at regular times of the day make up the bulk of the audience for local and network TV news broadcasts. Three-quarters (74%) watch the local television news regularly, and nearly half (47%) regularly watch the network evening news programs.
People who "check in" on the news are far less likely to watch broadcast and cable news, particularly the network evening news (only 18% watch regularly). There are similar gaps with respect to morning news programs, Sunday talk shows, and network news magazines such as 60 Minutes and 20/20; each of these sources is watched far more often by people for whom news is part of a daily schedule. And 63% of this group reads a daily newspaper regularly, compared with 45% of those whose news consumption is unscheduled.
Radio and the Internet stand apart, however, as relatively important sources for those who pick up news from time to time. News grazers listen to NPR at about the same rate as those who get their news at regular times (15% vs. 18%). Grazers also log onto major news websites in roughly the same numbers as those who get news on a schedule.
Images vs. Words
When asked to choose which way of getting the news provides the best understanding of major news events, most Americans (55%) express a preference for seeing pictures or video footage showing what happened; 40% say they learn more from reading or hearing the facts about what happened.
College graduates express a preference for words over pictures (by 55% to 40%), while those with no college experience say they get a better understanding from seeing pictures (by 64%-32%). The youngest survey respondents (18-24) prefer pictures by a two-to-one margin, but from ages 25 and up, there is no association between age and preference for pictures. Among the best educated respondents (those with a college degree or more), young people are just as apt to prefer reading and hearing the news as older people are.
People who prefer reading and hearing are more likely to be found among the regular audience for most print media, for NPR, and for news-oriented websites. But for the most part, those who say they better understand the news through pictures are not disproportionately likely to frequent television news sources; with very few exceptions, these media draw about equally well from people who like reading and hearing about the news.
Many Want More Than the Headlines
Four-in-ten Americans say that for major news stories, they usually want in-depth analysis of the news in addition to the headlines and basic facts. A similar proportion (37%) say they prefer the headlines plus some reporting on the facts, but not in-depth analysis. Far fewer people (18%) say they prefer just the headlines.
The preferences of hard news consumers are not markedly different from those who only express moderate interest in hard news. Half of hard news consumers say they like in-depth analysis, while 36% prefer to get the headlines and some coverage of the facts. This represents only a bit more emphasis on analysis than among the majority who are only moderately interested in hard news (39% of whom also prefer in-depth coverage). Only those who are disengaged from hard news altogether show a clear preference for simpler news presentations.
There are a handful of news outlets that attract a disproportionate share of the in-depth audience. Fully 63% of regular NewsHour viewers say they want the news provided with in-depth analysis from experts, far above both the national average and the audiences for all other television news programs. The Internet, particularly the websites of major national newspapers like the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, also draws significant interest from those who desire in-depth coverage.
News Styles: From Serious to Lighthearted
Americans like many different styles of presenting the news, and their preferences range from the serious to the lighthearted. A solid majority (55%) likes debates between people with different points of view, and 46% like in-depth interviews with leaders and policymakers. But comparable numbers like news presented by reporters and anchors with pleasant personalities (53%) and from news sources that are entertaining (48%) or funny (46%).
About half of the public (49%) likes news sources that present the views of ordinary Americans. Fewer (36%) express a positive opinion of news sources sharing their point of view on politics and issues; a majority (58%) says this does not matter to them. Just 29% of Americans want to be moved emotionally by the news, while 12% dislike news aimed at stirring the emotions.
Regardless of their views of various styles of presenting the news, the vast majority of Americans (87%) say they "want the news to contain information that is helpful in my daily life." Nearly half of Americans (47%) completely agree with that statement, while 40% mostly agree. Just 11% reject the idea that news should have information that is helpful in daily life.
More Signs of Cynicism
The public is increasingly cynical toward the news media, as reflected in the slumping credibility ratings for many outlets. More generally, a majority of Americans (53%) agree with the statement "I often don't trust what news organizations are saying." And while 43% disagree with that statement, just 9% completely disagree with it.
Feelings of mistrust of news organizations are fairly widespread. About six-in-ten Republicans (58%) say they often do not trust what news organizations are saying, but nearly half of Democrats share that opinion (47%). Older men, those age 50 and older, are particularly cynical toward the news media: 62% say they often do not trust news organizations. Younger women are decidedly less negative, with 35% of women under age 30 expressing mistrust for news outlets.
A relatively large percentage of the public (48%) also expresses the opinion that "people who decide what to put on TV news or in the newspapers are out of touch with people like me." This view is prevalent among older Americans, who comprise the bulk of the audience for network evening news and several other news sources. A majority (55%) of those age 50 and older believe news organizations are out of touch, compared with 44% of those under age 50.
Somewhat fewer Americans (44%) say they are often depressed by the news, while a majority (54%) disagrees. There is a wide gender gap in these attitudes, as a majority of women (53%) say they find the news often depressing. By comparison, only about a third of men (34%) acknowledge getting depressed by the news.
Barriers to Following the News
Americans' increasingly crowded schedules are often cited as a major reason why some people do not keep up with the news, but a lack of background information is actually a bigger factor. About four-in-ten (42%) say they often do not have enough background information to follow stories, while somewhat fewer (36%) say they are often "too busy" to keep up.
Half of those with a high school education cite a lack of necessary background information as a barrier to following the news; fewer than three-in-ten college graduates agree (27%). However, young people are not significantly more likely than older Americans to cite a lack of background as a reason for not keeping up with the news.
Age is a major factor in the question of whether people are too busy to follow the news, but education influences these attitudes as well. Half of those under age 25 say they are often too busy to follow the news, while just 28% of those 65 and older cite time constraints as a reason for not keeping up. Less educated Americans also more often cite a lack of time as a reason for not following the news.
Are News Media All the Same?
Most Americans look at the media landscape and discern important distinctions among sources, but a sizable minority (45%) views the news media "as pretty much the same to me."
Those at both ends of the political spectrum perceive meaningful differences among news organizations, and trust some more than others. Seven-in-ten conservative Republicans (71%) say there are a few news sources they trust more than others, and nearly as many (66%) liberal Democrats share that view.
Independents and moderates, by contrast, are more divided in their outlook. Roughly half of independents (51%), and conservative and moderate Democrats (49%), regard news organizations as fairly similar. Most moderate and liberal Republicans (56%) say there are a few news sources they trust more than others, but many (43%) do not differentiate among news organizations.
Two-thirds (66%) of those with a strong interest in hard news perceive clear distinctions among news outlets, but only about half (53%) of those with a moderate interest in hard news agree. And those with no interest in hard news overwhelmingly view news organizations as "pretty much the same."
By their nature, the news outlets that appeal to narrower, hard news-oriented audiences are drawing viewers who see important differences between the credibility of news organizations. By large margins, people who watch the O'Reilly Factor and the NewsHour say they trust certain sources more than others, as do those who regularly listen to Rush Limbaugh and read online news sources and weekly news magazines. By comparison, regular viewers of the major network news programs and readers of daily newspapers are less discriminating, though even here most say they trust some sources more than others.
Most Ambivalent Toward News With a View
Most Americans (58%) do not care if the news reflects their own viewpoint on politics and issues. But the minority of Americans that like the news to reflect their own views (36%) are highly selective in their choices of news outlets.
More members of both parties than independents and more Republicans than Democrats say they like the news to share their point of view. Roughly four-in-ten conservatives (43%) likes news that reflects their own opinions, compared with a third of moderates and liberals.
More generally, people who pay close attention to hard news express a preference for news that suits their point of view. Among those who follow international, national, local government, and business news, 43% say they like news with their point of view. Among those who follow none of these topics closely, just 13% say the same.
News With a View Left and Right
There are several key differences in some of the news consumption habits of liberals and conservatives who like the news to reflect their political views, although they turn to some major news outlets (network evening news, among others) in about the same numbers.
Among specific programs, the O'Reilly Factor, religious radio shows and Rush Limbaugh's show are important news sources for conservatives especially those who like the news to reflect their views. And Comedy Central's Daily Show, viewed regularly by only 3% of Americans overall, is a staple for 14% of liberals who like news that reflects their point of view.
Beyond the ideological appeal of these programs, the survey also finds that the Fox News Channel and National Public Radio draw people with strong ideological views who prefer news sources that reflect those views. Liberals who like their point of view reflected in the news are twice as likely as the national average (33% vs. 16%) to regularly listen to NPR. Similarly, 41% of conservatives who like news that shares their point of view regularly watch Fox News Channel, compared with 25% of the public.
Weather News Top Draw
While there has been an increase in the number of Americans who follow hard news especially international news interest in most news topics has remained stable in recent years. Far more Americans (53%) say they track weather news very closely than express strong interest in any other subject.
About a third of those surveyed (32%) say they follow crime news very closely, about the same as in 2002 and 2000. There continues to be a wide racial disparity in public interest in crime news; 55% of African Americans track crime news very closely compared with 28% of whites. African Americans also
express more interest than whites in community news, which draws close attention from 28% of the public. Four-in-ten blacks say they follow news about people and events in their own community, compared with about a quarter of whites (26%).
Health news is followed more closely by older people; 34% of people over age 50 pay very close attention to health news compared with just 20% of people under age 30. And a third of women say they follow health news very closely compared with 18% of men.
Common Concerns Weather, Health
Clearly, education is a very important factor in the public's news interests. College graduates make up a disproportionate percentage of the hard news audience and, in particular, the growing audience for international news.
However, while people with a high school education display much more interest in weather news than do college graduates (58% vs. 45%), the weather tops the list of news subjects for both groups. Similarly, health news is among the leading interests of high school-educated people and college graduates.
Otherwise, their leading news interests are quite different. Community news, crime and sports news rate among the subjects that most interest people with a high school education; international affairs, Washington news and science and technology are among the leading topics for college graduates.
Stewart Verdict Widely Known
About eight-in-ten Americans (79%) were able to recall that Martha Stewart was found guilty in her recent trial. There also is broad awareness of the name of the terrorist group that carried out the Sept. 11 attacks. In an open-ended format, 71% volunteered al Qaeda or cited Osama bin Laden.
By comparison, 56% know that the Republicans currently maintain a majority in the House of Representatives. And about the same number (55%) are able to correctly estimate the current number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq as between 500 and 1,000 (the survey was in the field from April 19 to May 12, 2004). Those who were wrong on this last question were more likely to underestimate the number of casualties (28% said they thought it was under 500) than overestimate (10% though it was 1,000 or more).
While older Americans generally score better than younger people in the knowledge questions, education is an even bigger factor. For example, three-quarters of college graduates (76%) knew that the GOP has a majority in the House, compared with just 44% of those with no more than a high school education.
News Sources and Knowledge
The most knowledgeable audiences for specific news outlets tend to be those where the typical reader, viewer or listener is well-educated, older, or both. For example, roughly six-in-ten (59%) regular readers of literary magazines like the New Yorker and Atlantic answered all four current events questions correctly, highest among regular news audiences. The readership of these magazines also has the greatest proportion of college graduates.
Similarly, the readership for political magazines like the New Republic and Weekly Standard is relatively knowledgeable and well-educated; fully half correctly answered all four questions. By contrast, regular viewers of Larry King Live scored about as well as those who read political magazines (49% all four correct), although just 24% completed college. However, the audience for King's program includes a much greater proportion of those age 50 and older than the audience for any other source (72%).
Those who say they regularly watch the Daily Show with Jon Stewart are much younger than average just 17% are 50 and older. But they are relatively well-educated 38% are college graduates and are fairly knowledgeable about current events (47% all four correct). Regular viewers of the Daily Show are about as knowledgeable as the regular audiences for the O'Reilly Factor (47%), the NewsHour (46%), talk radio (45%) and Sunday morning political talk shows (44%).
The audiences for cable networks and broadcast TV news outlets, which tend to be broader and more similar demographically to the nation as a whole, are somewhat less knowledgeable than some of these more specialized audiences. Comparable numbers of regular viewers of CNN (36%), MSNBC (34%) and the nightly network news programs (33%) correctly answered all four current events questions. Viewers of the Fox News Channel score almost precisely at the national average (29% answer all four correctly, compared to 30% nationwide), despite having fewer college graduates as regular viewers.
Navigate this report
Overview
I. Where Americans Go for News
II. The Changing Online News Audience
III. International News Audience Broader, Not Deeper
IV. Attitudes Toward the News
V. Media Credibility Declines
About the Surveys
Media Tables
Questionnaire Part 1
Questionnaire Part 2
The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press
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p 202.419.4350 f 202.419.4399 e info@people-press.org
About Methodology Useful Links
The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press is one of six projects that make up the The Pew Research Center. The Center is supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
RUSH LIMBAUGH REMAINS TOP TALKER NYC...
SPRING BOOK [APR-JUNE 2006]
TOTAL LISTENERS 12+
AVG. QUARTER HOUR
LIMBAUGH 144,100
HANNITY 113,500
CURTIS/KUBY 109,500
GAMBLING 104,700
IMUS 93,800
JOY BROWNE 76,200
MARK LEVIN 74,200
OPIE/ANTHONY 74,000
O'REILLY 64,900
SAVAGE 64,300
AL FRANKEN 47,300
LIONEL 38,400
RANDI RHODES 38,200
BATCHELOR 36,900
NYC, JAN-MAR, 2006
RADIO AUDIENCE AVG QTR HOUR
12+ LISTENERS
LIMBAUGH 141,700
HANNITY 118,200
GAMBLING 108,400
CURTIS/KUBY 101,500
IMUS 94,100
LEVIN 80,700
JOY BROWNE 69,500
O'REILLY 64,200
SAVAGE 62,900
BATCHELOR 43,300
INGRAHAM 37,500
FRANKEN 35,600
RANDI RHODES 27,900
LIONEL 27,100
http://newsbusters.org/node/6674
Rush Limbaugh Listeners Top Chart for 'High Knowledge'
Posted by Greg Sheffield on July 31, 2006 - 18:30.
Which party controls the U.S. House? Who is the current Secretary of State? Who is the president of Russia?
If you know all three questions, you could be a Rush Limbaugh listener. According to a new study by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, Rush Limbaugh listeners place second in the category of "high knowledge." This is above the pretentious New Yorker, the almost as pretentious NPR, news magazines like Time, the "News Hour with Jim Lehrer," and cable news outlets.
Doesn't "acting" smart count for something? It only does in New York socials and in "An Inconvenient Truth."
Weekly Standard/New Republic: 50%
Rush Limbaugh: 48%
New Yorker/Atlantic: 44%
O’Reilly Factor: 42%
News magazines 41%
Online news (daily): 41%
NPR: 39%
Daily Show: 38%
Sunday AM talk: 36%
Talk radio: 36%
Business magazines: 33%
NewsHour: 32%
CNN: 31%
Daily newspaper: 30%
Nightly network news: 30%
Larry King Live: 30%
Fox News Channel: 28%
TV news magazines: 27%
Community newspapers: 27%
Letterman/Leno: 26%
C-SPAN: 25%
Local TV news: 24%Greg Sheffield's blog | login or register to post comments
Categories: Government & Press | Rush Limbaugh
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CT Says:
July 31, 2006 - 18:40 DITTO!login or register to post comments »
July 31, 2006 - 19:02
donsales Says:
Ditto THAT....good buddy!
Over and out....10/4.....
Nowhere to Run....Nowhere To Hide.....login or register to post comments »
July 31, 2006 - 19:09
bigtimer Says:
Whoa...C-Span made the ratings...too funny since it has been trending leftward more and more with their coverage.
Glad I listen to Rush when I can, and have been for a very long time.
"the truth cannot be delivered with novocaine" Ann Coulterlogin or register to post comments »
July 31, 2006 - 19:14 Makes sense to me. We learn a lot from listening to his show. Rush has consistently been proven right time and time again. How's the MSM doing with their 'predictions', huh? I can only listen a couple of times a week, but every second is worth it, especially when we are poisoned by the liberal, "drive-by media.
kathleenirish Says:
MANY MORE COMMENTS...
I have this book. It is excellent and is very in-depth about this issue:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5536444
Authors Fresh Air from WHYY, July 6, 2006 · In his new book, Talking Right, linguist Geoff Nunberg examines the parlance of the American political right. Conservatives, Nunberg notes, have been remarkably effective at creating a language through which to convey their agenda. The subtitle of his book illustrates what he's getting at: "How Conservatives Turned Liberalism into a Tax-Raising, Latte-Drinking, Sushi-Eating, Volvo-Driving, New York Times-Reading, Body-Piercing, Hollywood-Loving, Left-Wing Freak Show." Nunberg, who teaches at the University of California-Berkeley, is a researcher at the Center for the Study of Language and Information at Stanford University. He is also the author of Going Nucular and The Way We Talk Now. Excerpt: 'Talking Right...'
'Talking Right': Why the Left Is Losing, Linguistically
"Over recent decades, the left has lost the battle for the language itself," writes Nunberg in his new book.
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/today.guest.html
18th Anniversary...
A Heartfelt Thanks to the Most Knowledgeable Audience in Broadcasting
Listen to Rush thank you for 18 great years: 
2 Minutes; 45 Seconds
See, I Told You So...
EIB Audience Among Most Knowledgeable
and Educated in All of American Media
THE most knowledgeable audience in all of broadcast media...
• Pew Center Study on News Audiences
March: John Dean's book provides insight into some of the 'whys.' It is indeed something we have to learn not only to live with, but to deal with in positive ways.
This is an excellent book. I got it right when it came out!
The section "Creating a Permanent Republican Majority" on page 132 will help all people to better understand the abuses of Tom Delay and the GOP Neocon leadership and why it is so very important for Democrats to take back power in at least one branch of Congress in 2006!
John Dean also discusses Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and some of their inconsistencies which I like!
Mitch, NYTimes finally reviewed it this weekend (as its been on best seller lists for several weeks!) and its a dismal review IMO. Not that reviewer says its a bad book, but says almost nothing. Thinking of complaining.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/30/books/review/30gillespie.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Re: Nunberg
This book is not on my current reading list, but is probably one that should be considering the damage done by the theft of the "language". Not helping matters is the role played by "liberals" in inadvertently assisting the right-wing with their language twisting. Years ago when the right-wing began twisting the meaning of the word "liberal", not only did no one fight back, those with liberals ideas began repeating the subversion.
Today we find many in the Democratic Party now switching to the word "progressive" which is fine, but this moveis not going to win the day. Liberalism is the forward thinking, problem solving, basis upon which this nation was founded. The people with the mic need to reclaim that word, and use it to contrast the status quo, and now, regressive positions of the conservatives currently in control.
One thing that must stop is the current demonizing of "liberalism" by writers like Wittman of Bullmoose. This is a dunderheaded move. Why help Limbaugh, who from the above research, seems to be doing plenty of damage. Several people running in 08 have gone before various groups and yammered on about how Democrats are weak on defense. Huh? When Democrats vote for huge defense budgets, joining the military, support the veterans, and take just as many junkets to bases around the world, why are they bowing to this ridiculous myth?
The controlling of American news by the right is powerful. 72% of people that voted for bush believed that he advocated for importing cheap Canadian drugs. Now why is that?
Instead of helping Limbaugh, Democratic voices need to define themselves. If anyone needed another reason for voting for Webb and Lamont, I would suggest that taking control of the language and the message ranks as number one.
You have not converted a man because you have silenced him.--J. V. Marley
http://www.gopusa.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-28380.html
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/4/10/132931.shtml?s=ic
Monday, April 10, 2006 1:19 p.m. EDT
Study: Rush Limbaugh Dominates Talk Radio
Talk-show host Rush Limbaugh still dominates the radio talk show business, a new study finds.
According to a recently released survey by the Benchmark Company, Limbaugh was "the most widely identified radio talk-show host" in America - with some 94 percent of Americans indicating they know who he is.
Satellite radio shock jock Howard Stern was a close second, with 89 percent of Americans saying they could identify him.
But the Benchmark study also noted a general decline in the ability of regular talk radio listeners to identify other nationally syndicated hosts.
"With the exception of a few, well-established icons like Limbaugh and Stern, it may well be that the number of nationally syndicated radio hosts has gone past the point where the average listener can absorb all the names,” said Dr. Rob Balon, CEO of Benchmark.
The study of 1120 regular listeners of AM and FM talk radio was the third installment in the Benchmark series on talk radio that began in 1994.
In addition, the study found that there were more listeners who classified themselves as political moderates and fewer who identified themselves as conservatives.
Another surprising finding was the perceived importance of local radio talk hosts. Sixty-nine percent of respondents mentioned a local host when asked who their favorite radio personality was.
"Local hosts talk about things that impact folks on their own turf,” explained Balon. "Sometimes it is politics, sometimes water cooler stuff, but it is what the listener relates to."
The study also addressed the role of the Internet and of technology in talk radio. 49 percent of respondents said they’d consider a monthly subscription if their favorite host went to a satellite station. And 65 percent mentioned visiting their favorite talk station’s Web site while 19 percent said they at least occasionally listened online.
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/stacks/rushleadsinhardnewsaudience.guest.html
Rush Limbaugh Leads in "Hard News" Audience
March 21, 2005
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: I don't know how we missed this. I really don't -- well, other than it's on page 28 of the report, but nobody talked about this, and I understand why now that I see it, and I also understand why this program is continually despised by elements of the drive-by media. My friends, I'm holding here in my formerly nicotine-stained fingers a copy of a report by the Pew Research Center for the peoples and the press that was released on Tuesday, June 8th, of 2004, almost two years ago. "Online news audiences larger, more diverse. News audiences increasingly politicized." This is the Pew Research Center Biennial News Consumption Survey, and if you go to page 28, there is this chart, and it is titled, "Proportion of Regular Audiences Following Hard News Closely."
Now, before I give you the results of the chart, let me read to you the accompanying paragraph that is published just to the left entitled, "Where Hard News Consumers Go -- Most news organizations attract a wide range of news consumers, including the hard-news core and those who are less interested in such news, but some stand out for their high proportion of hard-news viewers and readers. Among the regular audiences for broadcast programs, Rush Limbaugh's radio show, 56% attentive, the Sunday morning interview programs, 52%, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, 52%, and Larry King Live, 48%, have especially large numbers of hard-news consumers."
So at the top of the list: Rush Limbaugh's radio show 56%, as the most often cited source where consumers of hard news go. Here is the list in descending order. This show is at the top of the list, and this is the first I've heard about this. They did not publicize this. "Rush Limbaugh's radio show, 56%. Sunday morning news shows, 52%. The Newshour with Jim Lehrer, 52%. O'Reilly's show, 49%. Larry King Live, 48%, PMSNBC, C-SPAN, 45%. ABC World News Tonight, 44%. Fox News, 43. TV news magazines, 42. CNN, 42. NBC Nightly News, 42. CBS Evening News, 41. The morning news shows, 40. NPR, 40. ESPN, 35. The Daily Show, 23," and that's what the libs think is shaping public opinion in this country is The Daily Show.
So when you boil all this down, what it adds up to is that the largest percentage of consumers of hard news listen to this radio program more so than they do the nightly news programs, and our audience is larger on a daily basis than theirs are. The Sunday morning news shows, and this is the first we've heard of it. You know what? I'm going to scan this. We need to scan this and send it up there to Koko.
Do you have the whole report? You do. It's a pdf file. Get the pdf file for Koko, and I just read page 28 here, plus the cover pages. I'm sure there's a lot of other data in here, but I just don't remember this being reported at all. Hubba hubba. It doesn't surprise me. It explains a whole lot of things. I'll tell you what, it was after the Democrats... but it was a little bit later than this survey.
It was in November of 2004 when the Democrats had again failed, or was it '02 after the Wellstone memorial? Which was it, '02 or '04? Whenever, it was one of those two years, and the Democrats had failed to take back the House, take back the Senate, and they were stunned because, like now, they thought then that it was automatic -- and the Puffster, who was the Senate majority leader at the time, Tom Daschle, said, "Our focus groups have..." and I forget his exact quote. "Our focus groups research indicates that Rush Limbaugh has more people than just conservatives listening. He's not just preaching to the choir," and they were shocked and they were stunned because they've all assumed all this time that the only people who listen to this program are conservative, mind-numbed robots, and they were blown away.
That's when their plans to coalesce behind their own silly little inconsequential liberal radio network started effervescing, if you will, bubbling up. Well, this explains a lot. It does. It explains why this program is so maligned and impugned, because they are jealous. They are just beside themselves, and they can't believe it, and they can't get away with it anymore. They can't. Well, no, they think they can. They think they've actually shaped public opinion on the war and so forth. But that's why I said yesterday, "They think they shape public opinion on the war, but we had all these protests on Sunday and nobody went out there." I mean, piddly little numbers, embarrassing little numbers here for the anti-war crowd.
END TRANSCRIPT
Read the Background Material...
(News Audiences Increasingly Politicized Online News Audience Larger, More Diverse)
http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?PageID=833
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