The public is hearing more about clashes between police and protesters in recent weeks than any other story as the November elections approach, according to a new poll.
An Aug. 31-Sept. 7 Pew Research Center survey of adults in the United States found that 78% have heard “a lot” about confrontations between demonstrators and law enforcement in cities nationwide, compared to 18% who had heard “a little.” The topic outranked all other trending news issues, including how increased mail-in voting could affect the presidential election, criticism White House’s actions with respect to the U.S. Postal Service, attempts by Congress to pass another coronavirus relief bill, and the debate over whether professional sports should be played, according to the study.
Most respondents felt the media has given too much attention to the recent Black Lives Matter protests, which erupted following a May incident where a black man, George Floyd, died while Minneapolis police attempted to arrest him. Forty-one percent of people said the focus on protests went overboard, compared to 36% who said the press got it right. Americans were more supportive of coronavirus outbreak coverage and the 2020 presidential election, of which 46% and 58%, respectively, said the amount of focus on those issues struck the right balance.
Roughly 8-in-10 Republicans and Democrats said the police-protest storyline was the biggest one in America, but people were split down party lines when asked if it had received too much attention. Among Republicans, 69% said it got too much coverage, while just 16% of Democrats felt the same way. The majority of Democrats, 51%, thought the media struck the right balance, but 31% wanted more.
Black Americans were least approving of the amount of coverage compared to any gender, age, political affiliation, or education demographic. Just 13% of black respondents said demonstrations got too much attention, compared to 42% who said it should have been a bigger issue and 45% who said it struck a good balance.
The survey was conducted online and had a 1.7 percentage point margin of error among all respondents.
