An informed electorate?

Comments (3)

It's apparent from comments made on blogs and in "person on the street" interviews that few people even understand the forces at work in the economy. This Pew study and the "big 42%" is kind of scary.

Sometimes I feel like economic policy in the country (and the state) is made by people who don't even know how to balance their checkbooks...Pew's data supports that contention.

Posted by WillieV | June 19, 2008 4:20 PM

It seems to me that there was a lot more coverage of Tim Russert than there was of the Guantanimo ruling, so it makes sense that more people would follow it. Important things are too boring to be covered in depth (NPR excluded of course).

Posted by brian | June 20, 2008 8:45 AM

I attended a UBS Forum discussion on media reform a couple of weeks ago. While we discussed the paltry offerings of the mainstream media, the thought surfaced that many Americans just don't care about actual news. The mainstream media seems to do a great job with stories of celebrities, but often falls short on the news that an informed electorate needs. But one question that must be considered is, if the coverage of important issues was better, would most people care? How can we motivate more people to care about their communities, nation, and government?

Bob - Have you heard anything about broadcasting parts of that UBS Forum discussion on media reform?

Posted by Alison | June 20, 2008 12:21 PM