Arizona Rampage Dominates Public's News Interest

The aftermath of the deadly shooting rampage in Tucson dominated the public’s news interest last week as President Obama’s speech at a memorial service won praise – across party lines – among those who had read or heard about the event.

About half of the public (49%) says they very closely followed news about the Jan. 8 shootings that left six dead and 13 wounded, including the gunman’s apparent target, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. That is similar to the 45% that very closely followed news about the mass killings at Virginia Tech in April 2007 but less than the 68% who said they tracked news about the April 1999 shootings at a Columbine High School in Colorado that closely. According to the latest News Interest Index survey, conducted Jan. 13-16 among 1,000 adults, Americans also followed news about the economy (37% very closely) and powerful winter storms that hit the east coast (35% very closely). But when the public is asked which story they followed most closely last week, both rank far behind the Tucson shootings. Most Americans say they heard at least a little about Obama’s speech at the Jan. 12 memorial service at the University of Arizona (75%). Among that group, nearly seven-in-ten (69%) say the address was either excellent (36%) or good (33%), while 21% rate the speech as only fair (15%) or poor (6%). More than eight-in-ten Democrats (83%) say the speech was excellent (55%) or good (28%). Just 11% say it was only fair and less than 1% rate it as poor. Majorities of Republicans and independents who had heard about the speech also rated it positively. Among Republicans, 56% say the speech was either excellent (18%) or good (37%); 23% say it was only fair and 12% rate it as poor. Two-third of independents (67%) give the speech a positive rating (31% excellent, 35% good). Two-in-ten (20%) are more negative (13% only fair, 7% poor).