Fact Sheet on Information Initiatives in the New Pew Research Center

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Fact Sheet on Information Initiatives in the New Pew Research Center

The Pew Research Center will bring together under one umbrella the following initiatives supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Each project will continue to carry out its individual mission and focus.

The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press (www.people-press.org)
Andrew Kohut, Director

  • Formerly the Times-Mirror Center for the People & the Press, this is an independent opinion research group that studies attitudes toward the press, politics and public policy issues. It is best known for regular national surveys that measure public attentiveness to major news stories, and for polling that charts trends in values and fundamental political and social attitudes. Its purpose is to serve as a forum for ideas on the media and public policy through public opinion research. In this role it serves as an information resource for political leaders, journalists, scholars, and public interest organizations. Since 1995, the Center has produced more than 200 timely reports and surveys, informing the national conversation on a range of issues. Surveys have covered such topics as the Iraq war, media consumption and public attitudes toward the press, affirmative action, religious attitudes and homosexuality, economic issues and the political landscape in 2004.

The Project for Excellence in Journalism (www.journalism.org)
Tom Rosenstiel, Director

  • The Project was created to articulate and promote core principles to elevate standards of journalism at a time when those standards have come under pressure from economic and technological forces. The Project  released a landmark “State of the Media” report in 2004, featuring a comprehensive review of media ownership and economics, public attitudes and usage, content analysis of leading news organizations, and survey of the profession's leaders (in partnership with the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.) The Project  joined the PRC in 2006, the Trusts' funding solely supports an enhanced research component of the initiative.

Stateline.org
Ed Fouhy, Executive Editor and Gene Gibbons, Managing Editor

  • Stateline.org is a unique online news source that reports each weekday on state government, tracking and analyzing policy trends in the 50 states. Its Web site offers free access to staff-generated news stories and research, links to hundreds of daily newspaper articles and other sources of nonpartisan information, and provides statistical data for state-by-state comparisons. In an era of declining news media presence in statehouses, Stateline.org helps fill the coverage gap. It is used by journalists, policy makers and engaged citizens. The project helped establish the Association of Capital Reporters & Editors in 1999, and sponsors periodic conferences to educate statehouse reporters on government policy developments and reporting techniques. Stateline.org publishes the annual “State of the States” report, a 60-page compendium of state policy highlights, and will retain its editorial independence as part of the new PRC.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project (www.pewinternet.org)
Lee Rainie, Director

  • The Pew Internet Project creates original, high-quality research that explores the impact of the Internet on children, families, communities, the work place, schools, health care and civic/political life. The Project aims to be an authoritative source for timely information on the Internet's growth and societal impact. It has produced more than 65 reports on how Americans use the Internet and on-line activities, focusing on such topics as health care, educational activities, workplace experiences, interactions with the political system, relationships with family and friends and religious and spiritual life. The Project's report on spam for the first time documented that spam was degrading the online experience of significant numbers of email users and was widely quoted in legislative and press coverage of Congress' recent ‘Can the Spam' Act.

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life (www.pewforum.org)
Luis Lugo, Director

  • The Pew Forum seeks to promote a deeper understanding of issues at the intersection of religion and public affairs. The Forum pursues its mission by delivering timely, objective information to federal government officials, Washington-based journalists, policy analysts and leaders of national advocacy organizations. The Forum functions as a clearinghouse by gathering and disseminating objective information through polls and reports, and provides a neutral venue--through its various issue roundtables and rapid response events--for discussions of important issues regarding religion and politics. Forum events have engaged policy leaders and the media through discussion of topics such as religion and welfare reform, the religious divide between the U.S. and Europe, gay marriage, the ethics of genetic engineering, the constitutionality of the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, and others. The Forum publishes an annual poll report, “American Views of Religion, Politics and Public Policy,” produced jointly with the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

The Pew Hispanic Center (www.pewhispanic.org)
Roberto Suro, Director

  • The Center's mission is to improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population and chronicle Latinos' growing impact on the nation. The Center conducts and commissions studies on a range of topics, including its annual "National Survey of Latinos," a nationwide survey conducted with the Kaiser Family Foundation that explores Latino attitudes, beliefs, values and experiences, and measures them against long-term trend lines. With timely distribution of information to policy makers, business leaders, academics and the media, the Center strives to inform debate on issues critical to the nation's future. Among its 30-plus reports have been a series of ground-breaking studies on the billions of dollars in remittances Latino immigrants send annually to their families in their native countries; a study of the high rate of attrition among Latino college students; reports on the Latino labor market; and a study of Latino attitudes toward the war in Iraq, the economy and the 2004 election.

The Pew Global Attitudes Project (www.pewglobal.org)
Andrew Kohut, Director

  • Since it began in 2001, The Pew Global Attitudes Project has conducted a series of worldwide public opinion surveys of a total of nearly 75,000 people among 50 populations (49 countries plus the Palestinian Authority). The Project encompasses an array of subjects, from people's assessments of their own lives to their views on the current state of the world and important issues of the day. The Project released “What the World Thinks in 2002,",” an unprecedented survey that examined the views of 38,000 people in 44 nations on their lives, countries, the world and America. “View of a Changing World” was released in 2003 and polled 66,000 people in 49 countries and the Palestinian Authority on globalization, democratization, modernization and, in countries with significant Muslim populations, the role of Islam in public policy.
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