Palin News Is Top Story For Only Two Percent Of Public, According To New Study

The media is drastically overplaying former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's influence on the national political conversation, suggests a new study of the public's news-watching patterns.

The Pew Research Center released a public opinion survey on Wednesday showing that, of the recent news stories people followed most closely, the one-time vice presidential candidate and her book tour have garnered very little sustained interest.

Only two percent of respondents said that news of Palin and her new book, "Going Rogue," was the story they followed "most closely" this past week. Only ten percent said they were following it "very closely." Compare that to the 41 percent who said that the health care reform debate was their top story and 18 percent who said the same about the swine flu epidemic.

Pushing the point a bit further, Pew discovered that: "Most Americans (52%) say they have been hearing too much about Palin, while 26% say they have been hearing the right amount and 13% say they have been hearing too little about her. Far more say they are hearing too much about Palin now than in July, after her surprise resignation as Alaska's governor (38%)."

The findings reflect just how far apart the public and the press are when it comes to news coverage. Certainly there seems to be a greater appetite out there for substantive reporting on health care -- as well as less interest in wall-to-wall Palin coverage -- than conventional wisdom dictates.

That said, the numbers should be taken with some qualifiers. For starters, not all substantive news was of public interest. Only four percent of respondents said that President Obama's trip to Asia was their top story (though time differences may have had something to do with that).

Moreover, the findings are likely to be tilted by the fact that those surveyed may be more inclined to say they follow serious news rather than the tabloid-like material on Palin. Certainly, it has been widely documented that coverage of the conservative firebrand is doing wonders for the traffic of various news websites.

Comments

[tankay]

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[ifitwereme]

11:49 PM on 12/11/2009

[ifitwereme]

11:48 PM on 12/11/2009

Hp should take this poll to heart and spike the next 10 "stories" about sp

[wendyweather]

11:11 PM on 12/11/2009

I too think "I should quit reading articles about her" because I am feeding into a media frenzy but I am constantly shocked and stunned at what she does and says and the way she parades herself around this country. As an Alaskan and American, I feel like I have to be updated on the latest news of her in order to keep being the voice against the absolute stupidity that she personifies. I have never seen such delusions of grandeur! She is like a lot of singers out right now... when she misses a beat( a word or a note off her carefully scripted cards) she just shows some leg or laughs a schoolgirl laugh and all is forgiven? Does she assume we are all so easily led. She is Paris Hilton without a job and thats all she is.

[naughtymonkey]

09:27 PM on 12/10/2009

I am a big fan of humor and laughter. Apart from her crazy word salad speeches, comment pages are the other reason I read about Palin. I cut and paste the hilarious comments into Notebook, attribute the article title, the author, the commentator, and the web site. Great fun to reread these Palin Notes in the john or whenever I need a giggle. Thanks for more material, guys and gals!

[Amock]

03:41 PM on 11/29/2009

Well without Sarah WHO would I have to make fun of? She is just such a target of opportunity.

[tnkeating]

08:02 PM on 11/28/2009

If that were true, why then is there four stories on her in the politics section alone? The progressives fear and loath Sarah Palin.

[Nagarjuna]

08:27 PM on 11/28/2009

Loathe, yes. Fear? Why?

[FR]

04:50 PM on 12/10/2009

Fear?
Sure, keep telling yourselves that.

Which part of we'd-love-for-her-to-run-so-she-can-sink-the-Repub-party-again does not compute?

[Littlewords]

04:08 PM on 11/28/2009

Exactly 2% more than deserved.

[pxgabriel]

12:46 PM on 11/28/2009

http://community.adn.com/adn/node/145684

[Matt Hotz]

10:25 AM on 11/28/2009

To paraphrase Radiohead. She is like watching a clown car in a pile up.

[onegandolf1]

09:51 AM on 11/28/2009

And, these results surprise only members of the Media.

Wake up, media types. Sarah is news only as comic relief.

She's a zero factor.

[Willow207]

11:37 PM on 11/27/2009

Palin's book is no where to be found on the New York Times Best Sellers List, or Recommended List...

Who would ever guess that the only people who think Palin matters are those who are as delusional as Palin herself.....

Hope she gets back under that chunk of artic tundra soon, and never comes out again......

[justmakingcomments]

10:57 PM on 11/27/2009

Wow, healthcare is more important than a newly released book. Derrr........
I would hope that folks would find the healthcare issue more important.

What a stupid poll.

[Willow207]

11:41 PM on 11/27/2009

Now would someone please inform CNN of these poll numbers?

[MYSTERIOUS]

05:24 PM on 11/27/2009

I am 100% tired of Palin stories. I only read this one to see if my eyes were deceiving me. During the week of her book tour, by Wednesday, I just turned the channel whenever her named popped up. Considering I like to watch politics (CNN, MSNBC), I had to find different channels altogether when news about her came on.

And, I don't know why HUFF P keeps on doing this. Jack Cafferty said, during the time of Michael Jackson's death, (his question of the hour had something to do with Jackson's death), he was surprised that Michael's question received more responses than Palins. He was shocked.

That's the problem with the media. They sometimes latch onto something, and drive their audience away. It is really time to move on. Why they keep talking about her potential run in 2012 is absurb. She quit her job as governor of Alaska. Do they really think America will vote for this woman to lead this nation?

It was the same during the end of the primaries, when the media should have been focusing on the historic nomination and eventual election Barack Obama. Instread, it was constantly, "What does Hillary want/" or "What will Hillary do." Finally, someone said, this is about Barack Obama. He won.

I wonder how John McCain feels knowing he let his drama out of the cage.

[Grim Truth]

02:46 PM on 11/27/2009

...but she's 3/5 for the top HP stories in the sidebar. Haha good stuff.