Sports Scandals
The world of professional sports has been plagued by scandal this year. NFL quarterback Michael Vick admitted to illegal dogfighting, NBA referee Tim Donaghy confessed to wagering on games he officiated, and on Friday, Olympic medalist Marion Jones became the latest in a long list of sports stars to admit to using performance-enhancing drugs. While Americans do not endorse such behaviors, the scandals appear to have had only some impact on their overall interest in sports. When asked in an August poll, 67 percent said that recent scandals had made no difference on how much they followed sports. A significant 24 percent, however, said the scandals had made them less interested. Source: Fox News/Opinion Dynamics, August 2007.
Watching Wealth
According to a recent Harris Interactive online survey, Americans are split 39 to 38 percent over whether their finances have improved or worsened from one year ago. When categorized by income, the wealthiest households tended to be the least pessimistic. Even so, fully a quarter of households making more than $75,000 a year reported that they were worse off financially than they had been one year ago.
Source: Harris Interactive Online Survey, September 2007.
(Not) Breaking News
When it comes to reporting the news “fully, accurately and fairly,” Americans are divided about the mass media’s performance. In a recent Gallup poll, a bare majority (52 percent of participants) described their trust and confidence in the mass media as “not very much” or “none at all,” a number that has remained fairly constant in recent years. In the new poll, 47 percent said they had a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust and confidence.
Perceived media partisanship—especially at the national level—may be responsible for the general negative assessment. In the same September poll, 42 percent of participants told Gallup that they thought the national media was “too liberal,” compared to 38 percent who said it was “about right.” Eighteen percent said it was “too conservative.” Local news media were viewed more favorably than national media, with 56 percent of Americans expressing confidence in local sources.were worse off financially than they had been one year ago. Source: The Gallup Organization, September 2007.
Healthcare Concerns
This week, presidential candidate John McCain introduced his healthcare plan which focuses on reducing healthcare costs. Recent polls provide some clues about why McCain may have chosen this approach. According to a recent Harris Interactive poll, the public is most concerned about increasing coverage for the uninsured and lowering overall costs of care. When asked what single healthcare issue they thought the current presidential candidates should address, 30 percent of participants indicated coverage for the uninsured was most important, followed by 25 percent who said slowing the inflation of costs. Democrats (37 percent) were more likely than Republicans (21 percent) and independents (30 percent) to favor coverage for the uninsured, while Republicans were more likely to express concerns about rising costs. A third of Republicans, compared to 23 percent of Democrats and 23 percent of independents, listed keeping healthcare costs down as their top priority.
Source: WSJ.com/Harris Interactive Online Poll, September 2007.
