Public Interest In Newtown Higher Than Other Mass Shootings Since Columbine: Pew

All Eyes Are On Newtown
A woman comforts a young girl during a vigil service for victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Conn. (AP Photo/Andrew Gombert, Pool)
A woman comforts a young girl during a vigil service for victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Conn. (AP Photo/Andrew Gombert, Pool)

The public is following coverage of Newtown more closely than any other mass shooting since Columbine, according to a Pew survey published Monday.

Twenty-seven people — including twenty children ages six and seven — were shot and killed in Newtown, Connecticut on Friday. The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press recently surveyed people about their reaction to the tragic events.

Fifty-seven percent of Americans said they are following news about the Newtown shooting very closely, according to the poll. Pew reported: "News interest in the Newtown shooting is higher than for other recent gun tragedies, including shootings in Aurora, Colo. (41% very closely), Tucson, Ariz. (49% very closely), and Virginia Tech (45% very closely)."

Sixty-eight percent of respondents said that they followed news of the Columbine shooting in 1999 very closely.

Parents also said that they are trying to shield their children from news coverage of the Newtown shooting. Seventy-one percent of parents with elementary school-age children said they are trying to restrict how much coverage their children watch, compared to 36 percent of parents with older children.

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