Hot Topics
Survey Reports
October 21, 2003
President's Criticism of Media Resonates, But Iraq Unease Grows
Questionnaire
PEW RESEARCH CENTER FOR THE PEOPLE & THE PRESS
OCTOBER 2003 NEWS INTEREST INDEX
FINAL TOPLINE
October 15 - 19, 2003
N=1515
ON FORM ONE Q.1 PRECEDES Q.2 --- ON FORM TWO, Q.2 PRECEDES Q.1
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
October, 2003 50 42 8=100
September, 2003 55 36 9=100
Mid-August, 2003 56 32 12=100
Early August, 2003 53 37 10=100
Mid-July, 2003 58 32 10=100
Early 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
ON FORM ONE Q.1 PRECEDES Q.2 --- ON FORM TWO, Q.2 PRECEDES Q.1
Q.2 All in all, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way things are going in this
country today?
Dis-
Satisfied satisfied No Opinion
October, 2003 38 56 6=100
August, 2003 40 53 7=100
April, 2003 50 41 9=100
January, 2003 44 50 6=100
September, 2002 41 55 4=100
Late August, 2002 47 44 9=100
May, 2002 44 44 12=100
March, 2002 50 40 10=100
Late September, 2001 57 34 9=100
Early September, 2001 41 53 6=100
June, 2001 43 52 5=100
March, 2001 47 45 8=100
February, 2001 46 43 11=100
January, 2001 55 41 4=100
September, 2000 51 41 8=100
June, 2000 47 45 8=100
April, 2000 48 43 9=100
August, 1999 56 39 5=100
January, 1999 53 41 6=100
November, 1998 46 44 10=100
Early September, 1998 54 42 4=100
Late August, 1998 55 41 4=100
Early August, 1998 50 44 6=100
February, 1998 59 37 4=100
January, 1998 46 50 4=100
September, 1997 45 49 6=100
August, 1997 49 46 5=100
January, 1997 38 58 4=100
July, 1996 29 67 4=100
March, 1996 28 70 2=100
October, 1995 23 73 4=100
June, 1995 25 73 2=100
April, 1995 23 74 3=100
July, 1994 24 73 3=100
March, 1994 24 71 5=100
October, 1993 22 73 5=100
September, 1993 20 75 4=100
May, 1993 22 71 7=100
January, 1993 39 50 11=100
January, 1992 28 68 4=100
November, 1991 34 61 5=100
Late February, 1991 (Gallup) 66 31 3=100
August, 1990 47 48 5=100
May, 1990 41 54 5=100
January, 1989 45 50 5=100
September, 1988 (RVs) 50 45 5=100
May, 1988 41 54 5=100
January, 1988 39 55 6=100
NO QUESTION 3
Q.4 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.
OBSERVE FORM SPLITS]
Very Fairly Not too Not at all
Closely Closely Closely Closely DK/Ref
a. The race for the Democratic
presidential nomination 12 27 28 32 1=100
September, 2003 17 25 30 27 1=100
Mid-August, 2003 12 27 27 33 1=100
May, 2003 8 19 31 41 1=100
January, 2003 14 28 29 28 1=100
December, 1999 16 36 24 23 1=100
October, 1999 17 32 28 22 1=100
September, 1999 15 31 33 20 1=100
July, 1999 15 38 24 22 1=100
June, 1999 11 25 29 34 1=100
September, 1995 12 36 30 22 *=100
August, 1995 13 34 28 25 *=100
June, 1995 11 31 31 26 1=100
December, 1991 10 28 32 30 *=100
October, 1991 12 26 31 29 2=100
November, 1987 15 28 35 21 1=100
September, 1987 14 34 37 14 1=100
ASK FORM 1 ONLY [N=735]:
b.F1 The California recall election 20 35 23 21 1=100
September, 2003 19 28 28 24 1=100
Mid-August, 2003 15 25 24 35 1=100
c.F1 News about the current
situation in Iraq 38 40 14 7 1=100
September, 2003 50 33 10 6 1=100
Mid-August, 2003 45 39 10 5 1=100
Early July, 2003 37 41 13 8 1=100
June, 2003 46 35 13 6 *=100
May, 2003 63 29 6 2 *=100
April 11-16, 2003 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, 2003 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
ASK FORM 2 ONLY [N=780]:
d.F2 Reports about the condition
of the U.S. economy 32 39 16 12 1=100
September, 2003 39 30 18 12 1=100
March, 2003 40 35 16 8 1=100
February, 2003 42 33 15 10 *=100
January, 2003 40 35 13 11 1=100
December, 2002 38 34 17 10 1=100
February, 2002 35 40 15 9 1=100
January, 2002 30 44 16 9 1=100
December, 2001 37 40 13 8 2=100
Mid-November, 2001 41 36 15 7 1=100
June, 2001 24 41 18 16 1=100
May, 2001 34 36 15 15 0=100
April, 2001 36 34 16 13 1=100
February, 2001 30 39 18 12 1=100
January, 2001 32 38 17 11 2=100
June, 1995 26 41 22 11 *=100
March, 1995 27 45 19 9 *=100
February, 1995 23 41 22 13 1=100
December, 1994 28 43 20 9 *=100
October, 1994 27 40 20 12 1=100
June, 1994 25 42 23 10 *=100
May, 1994 33 40 16 10 1=100
January, 1994 34 39 16 10 1=100
Early January, 1994 36 44 13 7 *=100
December, 1993 35 41 15 8 1=100
October, 1993 33 38 20 9 *=100
September, 1993 37 40 14 8 1=100
Early September, 1993 39 39 14 9 *=100
August, 1993 41 36 14 9 *=100
May, 1993 37 38 18 6 1=100
e.F2 Reports that a White House
official may have leaked
classified information about
a CIA agent 16 32 24 27 1=100
ASK ALL:
f. Basketball star Kobe Bryant
being accused of sexual assault 14 28 29 28 1=100
August, 2003 17 30 28 24 1=100
Q.5 In general, do you think news reports are making the situation in Iraq seem WORSE than
it really is or BETTER than it really is, or are reports showing the situation about the
way it really is?
38 Worse
14 Better
36 About the way it really is
12 Don't know/Refused
100
ASK FORM 1 ONLY [N=735]:
Q.6F1 So far, do you think news organizations are giving too much coverage to the 2004
presidential campaign,
too little coverage to the campaign, or the right amount of coverage?
April June March Feb Sept July March Oct Sept Feb Oct May Nov
2003 2000 2000 2000 1999 1999 1996 1995 1992 1992 1991 1988 1987
23 Too much 15 19 25 22 28 18 29 18 22 19 12 24 21
17 Too little 38 16 10 10 14 13 10 18 11 15 22 7 16
51 Right amount 38 60 61 63 49 59 58 60 62 62 58 62 58
9 DK/Refused 9 5 4 5 9 10 3 4 5 4 8 7 5
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
ASK FORM 2 ONLY [N=780]:
Q.7F2 How good a job are news organizations doing at reporting about the race for the
Democratic presidential nomination? An excellent job, a good job, only a fair job,
or a poor job?
Sept
1999
3 Excellent 6
27 Good 36
44 Only Fair 37
10 Poor 12
16 DK/Refused 9
100 100
ASK ALL:
Q.8 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]
Other Don't Know/
Television Newspapers Radio Magazines Internet (VOL) Refused
October, 2003 80 50 18 4 20 2 1
August, 2003 79 46 15 3 18 2 1
Early July, 2003 79 45 16 5 19 1 *
March, 2003 89 24 19 * 11 2 *
February, 2003 83 42 19 4 15 3 *
January, 2003 81 44 22 4 17 2 1
January, 2002 82 42 21 3 14 2 *
Mid-September, 2001 90 11 14 * 5 1 1
Early September, 2001 74 45 18 6 13 1 *
February, 2001 76 40 16 4 10 2 1
October, 1999 80 48 19 5 11 2 *
January, 1999 82 42 18 4 6 2 *
January, 1996 88 61 25 8 -- 2 *
September, 1995 82 63 20 10 -- 1 1
January, 1994 83 51 15 10 -- 5 1
September, 1993 83 60 17 9 -- 3 *
January, 1993 83 52 17 5 -- 1 1
Early January, 1991 82 40 15 4 -- 1 *
IF RESPONDENT ANSWERED '1' TELEVISION AS EITHER 1ST OR 2ND RESPONSE IN Q.8 ASK Q.9.
IF NOT, SKIP TO Q.10
Q.9 Do you get most of your news about national and international issues from [READ, RANDOMIZE
ITEMS 2 THRU 4 AND 5 THRU 8 SEPARATELY, AND RANDOMIZE SETS OF ITEMS
(LOCAL; NETWORK; CABLE). ACCEPT MULTIPLE ANSWERS BUT DO NOT PROBE FOR
ADDITIONAL]
Early
BASED ON TOTAL: Aug July Jan
2003 2003 2002
20 CNN Cable news 26 27 28
17 The Fox News Cable Channel 18 22 16
17 Local news programming 17 17 16
13 NBC Network news 15 14 15
12 ABC Network news 12 12 11
8 CBS Network news 10 11 11
6 MSNBC Cable news 7 9 8
-- CNBC Cable news 3 3 4
4 (DO NOT READ) Don't know/Refused 4 3 2
QUESTIONS 10-12, T1-T6 HELD FOR RELEASE
ASK FORM 1 ONLY [N=735]:
Q.13F1 Some people say we should have a third major political party in this country in
addition to the Democrats and Republicans. Do you agree or disagree?
ABC/
Washington
Early Post
June Aug Sept Aug July Oct April July Jan Sept
2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1995 1994 1984 1982
46 Agree 52 54 46 47 58 59 57 53 41 44
44 Disagree 42 40 47 46 37 37 38 43 48 44
10 Don't know/Refused 6 6 7 7 5 4 5 4 11 12
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
ASK FORM 2 ONLY [N=780]:
Q.14F2 This year, have Republicans and Democrats in Washington been working together
more to solve problems OR have they been bickering and opposing one another more
than usual?
May July May July Aug Aug Nov Aug June Oct Aug
2002 2001 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1997 1997 1995 1993
21 Working together more 44 30 34 21 20 27 38 43 34 21 20
55 Opposing each other more 31 46 41 54 68 51 45 46 49 72 57
10 Same as in past (VOL) 8 10 9 10 4 8 7 3 6 3 13
14 Don't know/Refused 17 14 16 15 8 14 10 8 11 4 10
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
ASK ALL:
Q.15 Are George W. Bush's economic policies making the U.S. economy better, making the U.S.
economy worse, or have they not had much of an effect?
18 Better
43 Worse
31 Not much effect
8 Don't know/Refused
100
Q.16 Thinking now about job opportunities where you live, would you say there are plenty of jobs
available in your community or are jobs difficult to find?
U.S. News & World Report
June June Aug May Jan
2002 2001 1992 1992 1992
24 Plenty of jobs available 31 42 15 16 12
66 Jobs are difficult to find 59 44 76 77 79
5 Lots of some jobs, few of others (VOL) 4 8 6 4 6
5 Don't know 6 6 3 3 3
100 100 100 100 100 100
QUESTIONS 17-19 HELD FOR RELEASE
ASK ALL:
Now thinking about Iraq
Q.20 Do you think the U.S. made the right decision or the wrong decision in using
military force against Iraq?
Early Late
Sept Aug July ---- April ---- ------ March 2003 ------ Jan
2003 2003 2003 10-16 8-9 2-7 28-4/1 25-27 23-24 20-22 1991
60 Right decision 63 63 67 74 74 72 69 74 74 71 77
33 Wrong decision 31 30 24 19 19 20 25 21 21 22 15
7 Don't know/Refused 6 7 9 7 7 8 6 5 5 7 9
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Q.21 How well is the U.S. military effort in Iraq going? [READ IN ORDER]
Early
Sept Aug July ---- April ---- --- March 2003 ---
2003 2003 2003 10-16 8-9 2-7 25-4/1 23-24 20-22
16 Very well 15 19 23 61 60 55 39 45 65
44 Fairly well 47 43 52 32 32 37 46 41 25
25 Not too well 26 24 16 3 3 3 8 6 2
11 Not at all well 9 11 5 1 3 2 2 2 1
4 DK/Ref. 3 3 4 3 2 3 5 6 7
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Q.22 Do you think the U.S. should keep military troops in Iraq until a stable government is
established there, or do you think the U.S. should bring its troops home as soon as
possible? IF "KEEP TROOPS IN IRAQ" (1 IN Q.22) ASK:
Q.23 Do you think more coalition troops are needed in Iraq right now, or do you think there
are already enough troops there to do the job?
Sept
2003
58 Keep troops in Iraq 64
32 More troops needed 34
21 Have enough there to do the job 25
* Reduce number of troops (VOL.) *
5 Don't know/Refused (VOL.) 5
39 Bring troops home 32
3 Don't know/Refused 4
100 100
ASK FORM 1 ONLY [N=735]:
Q.24F1 Do you think George W. Bush has a clear plan for bringing the situation in Iraq
to a successful conclusion, or don't you think so?
Sept
2003
35 Has a clear plan 32
54 Doesn't have a clear plan 58
11 Don't know/Refused (VOL.) 10
100 100
ASK FORM 2 ONLY [N=780]:
Q.25F2 Do you think George W. Bush has explained clearly his plans for bringing the situation
in Iraq to a successful conclusion, or do you think he has not explained his plans
clearly enough?
Late Mid- Late NY Times
Sept March Feb Jan Dec Oct Sept Aug Aug
2003 2003 2003 2003 2002 2002 2002 2002 1990
32 Explained clearly 30 49 53 42 48 48 52 37 50
63 Not clearly 63 47 40 53 45 45 37 52 41
5 Don't know/Refused 7 4 7 5 7 7 11 11 9
100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
QUESTIONS 26-44 HELD FOR RELEASE
Next >>
