News Interest Index: Little Sign of Obama Fatigue

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News Interest Index: Little Sign of Obama Fatigue

No one has gotten more media coverage and attention in recent months than Barack Obama, but only about a third of Americans (34%) say they are hearing too much about the nation's new president. More than half (54%) say they are hearing the right amount about Obama as he works to put his agenda in place and grapple with a global economic crisis.

This is in contrast to perceptions about candidate Obama in early August 2008, when 48% said they were hearing too much about the presumptive Democratic nominee and 41% said they were hearing the right amount.  

Not surprisingly, the current impressions differ significantly by party. In the latest weekly News Interest Index survey, conducted March 27-30 by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, nearly six-in-ten Republicans (59%) say they have been hearing too much about Obama. Only 16% of Democrats and 33% of independents agree. About a third of Republicans (32%) say Obama has gotten the right amount of coverage, compared with 76% of Democrats and 50% of independents.

At the same time, the proportion of Americans that say the press has been fair in its coverage of Obama has dipped since shortly after his Jan. 20 inauguration from 64% to 52%. The share saying the press has not been critical enough has risen from 18% in January to 24% currently, while the share saying the press has been too critical has risen from 12% to 18%.

Read the full report Little Sign of Obama Fatigue on the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press' Web site.

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