Despite the information revolution of the 1990s and the proliferation of news and information sources (especially online) in the past two decades, the public’s knowledge of current affairs isn’t getting any better.
The Pew Research Center for People and the Press surveyed more than 1,500 adults (ages 18 or older) in early February. Pew Asked questions that were pretty similar to those the Center asked in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
An excerpt:
A new nationwide survey finds that the coaxial and digital revolutions and attendant changes in news audience behaviors have had little impact on how much Americans know about national and international affairs.
On average, today's citizens are about as able to name their leaders, and are about as aware of major news events, as was the public nearly 20 years ago. The new survey includes nine questions that are either identical or roughly comparable to questions asked in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 2007, somewhat fewer were able to name their governor, the vice president, and the president of Russia, but more respondents than in the earlier era gave correct answers to questions pertaining to national politics.
There is good news for newspapers (and Comedy Central): Editor & Publisher reported, “Pew judged the levels of knowledgability (correct answers) among those surveyed and found that those who scored the highest were regular watchers of Comedy Central's The Daily Show and Colbert Report. They tied with regular readers of major newspapers in the top spot -- with 54% of them getting 2 out of 3 questions correct.”
Hooray for newspaper readers (and viewers of The Daily Show and Colbert Report).
Procrastination tool: See how you compare by taking the Pew quiz.