{"id":49463,"date":"2013-05-13T14:53:06","date_gmt":"2013-05-13T19:53:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2013\/05\/13\/benghazi-investigation-does-not-reignite-broad-public-interest\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T04:10:33","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T09:10:33","slug":"benghazi-investigation-does-not-reignite-broad-public-interest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2013\/05\/13\/benghazi-investigation-does-not-reignite-broad-public-interest\/","title":{"rendered":"Benghazi Investigation Does Not Reignite Broad Public Interest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overview<\/h2>\n\n
\"5-13-13<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

The public paid limited attention to last week\u2019s congressional hearings on Benghazi. Fewer than half (44%) of Americans say they are following the hearings very or fairly closely, virtually unchanged from late January when Hillary Clinton testified. Last October, 61% said they were following the early stages of the investigation at least fairly closely.<\/p>\n\n

The national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted May 9-12 among 1,000 adults, finds that Americans are deeply split over how both the administration and congressional Republicans are handling the situation. Four-in-ten (40%) say the Obama administration has generally been dishonest<\/em> when it comes to providing information about the Benghazi attack, but 37% say they have been generally <\/p>\n\n

\"5-13-13<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

honest. And when it comes to the GOP-led investigation, 36% say Republicans have gone too far<\/em> in the hearings, while 34% say they have handled them appropriately.<\/p>\n\n

Not surprisingly, these reactions divide cleanly along partisan lines. Among Republicans, 70% say the Obama administration has been dishonest and 65% say the hearings have been handled appropriately. Among Democrats, 60% say the hearings have gone too far, and 62% say the administration has been honest.<\/p>\n\n

The judgment of independents leans against the administration at this point: By a 48% to <\/p>\n\n

\"5-13-13<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

30% margin independents say the administration has been generally dishonest. But independents are split when it comes to Republican handling of the hearings.<\/p>\n\n

Republicans are twice as likely as Democrats (36% vs. 18%) to be following news about the Benghazi hearings very closely. This mirrors earlier measures of <\/p>\n\n

\"5-13-13<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

interest in the Benghazi situation dating back to last year<\/a>. Republicans also are critical of what they see as insufficient press attention to the issue: 51% of Republicans say that news organizations have been giving too little coverage<\/em> to the Benghazi hearings, compared with 26% of Democrats and 33% of independents.<\/p>\n\n

About half (56%) of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say they regularly watch the Fox News Channel, and this group is particularly frustrated over the Benghazi situation. Fully 79% of Republicans who regularly watch Fox News say the Obama administration has been dishonest, compared with 60% of Republicans who don\u2019t watch Fox regularly. Nearly half (46%) of Republicans who regularly watch Fox News say they are following the story very closely \u2013 compared with 23% among other Republicans. Those who regularly watch Fox News are also far more critical of the news media: 59% say the hearings have not received sufficient coverage by the news media.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>Broad Public Interest in Rescue of Cleveland Women<\/h3>\n\n

News about the rescue of three women who had been held captive in a Cleveland home was far and away the public\u2019s top story last week. <\/p>\n\n

\"5-13-13<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

Four-in-ten (40%) say they followed the story very closely, more than followed reports about the condition of the U.S. economy (28% very closely) or news about the Benghazi hearings (23% very closely).<\/p>\n\n

Interest in the rescue of the Cleveland women is higher than for the discovery of Jaycee Dugard, in August of 2009; at that time, 27% said they were very closely following news about Dugard, following her reappearance more than 18 years after having gone missing. Women (45%) are more likely than men (35%) to say they are very closely following news about the rescue of the women in Cleveland.<\/p>\n\n

\"5-13-13<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

Amidst high public interest in the story, 61% say news organizations have given the right amount of coverage to the Cleveland rescue; fewer than a quarter (21%) say there has been too much new coverage and 10% say there has been too little.<\/p>\n\n

News about the immigration debate in Washington (20% very closely) and political violence in Syria (17%) garnered modest levels of public attention. In 2013, Pew Research surveys have measured interest in the debate over immigration five times, with very close interest climbing no higher than 23% in early April.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The public paid limited attention to last week\u2019s congressional hearings on Benghazi. Fewer than half (44%) of Americans say they are following the hearings very or fairly closely, virtually unchanged from late January when Hillary Clinton testified. Last October, 61% said they were following the early stages of the investigation at least fairly closely. 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