Americans tracked President Obama's first European trip more closely than other major news stories last week and much more closely than George W. Bush's first year international summit travels in 2001.
A quarter say they followed Obama's trip and meetings with foreign leaders very closely, while 35% say they followed the trip fairly closely. In July 2001, just 6% followed Bush's trip to the G-8 Summit in Italy very closely, while another 21% followed it fairly closely.
More than one-in-five (22%) cited Obama's trip when asked which of six top stories they followed most closely last week. Still, the latest weekly News Interest Index survey, conducted April 3-6 by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, shows that economic troubles at home were not far behind: 17% say they followed reports about rising unemployment most closely and 13% say they followed reports about financial problems in the U.S. auto industry most closely.
Read the full report Obama's Trip Closely Followed on the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press' Web site.