Pop Culture/ Media 2002

Media Viewing Survey


A 2002 media viewing survey conducted by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press measured people's use of and attitude toward various media outlets such as newspapers, magazines, television, and the internet, including specific publications and topics. The survey was conducted by telephone with a random sample of 3,002 people ages 18 and over. Their findings included the following:


1. 60% of people surveyed watch TV (non-news programs) regularly and of those people 90% of them watch TV for more than one hour.

2. 24% of people surveyed read magazines regularly and of those people, 80% of them spend at least 20 minutes reading magazines

3. 5% of people surveyed said that they read magazines like People “regularly” and 27% said they read them “sometimes”

4. 14 % of people surveyed said that they read magazines like Time and Newsweek “regularly” and 36% said they read them “sometimes”

5. 13% of people surveyed said that they followed entertainment news “very closely” and 42% said they followed it “somewhat closely”, 27% said not very closely, and 32% said not at all.

6. 10% of people surveyed said that they followed culture and the arts “very closely”, 32% said “somewhat closely”, 28% said “not very closely”, and 29% said “not at all”

7. 32% of people surveyed said that they paid attention to people and events in their community “very closely”, 44% said “somewhat closely”, 15% said “not very closely”, and 9% said “not at all”

8. 43% of people surveyed read a daily newspaper, and of those people 83% of them spend at least 15 minutes doing so

9. 58% of people surveyed said that they watched the local news “regularly”, 23% said “sometimes”, 8% said “hardly ever”, and 11% said “never”

10. 76% of people surveyed had cable TV, and 42% had satellite TV

11. When asked if they felt overloaded with information or if they liked having so much information available, 25% said they felt “overloaded”, and 66% said they liked it.




Music of 2002

Top Selling Albums of 2002:
1. Eminem: The Eminem Show
2. Creed: Weathered
3. Nelly: Nellyville
4. Pink: M!ssundaztood
5. Linkin Park: Hybrid Theory





Top Grossing Movies of 2002

1. Spider Man
2. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
3. Star Wars: Episode II- Attack of the Clones
4. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
5. My Big Fat Greek Wedding



Pop Culture Phenomenons of 2002


1. Japanese Anime
2. Explosion of Reality TV (intoduction of American Idol & The Bachelor)
3. Yoga
4. Gel pens
5. 1980's Retro Movement
6. Trucker Hats
7. Axe Body Spray
8. Modification of import cars



Cultural/ World Events


1. The Euro becomes of offical currency of twelve of the members of the EU
2. Queen Elizabeth, the queen of England, dies
3. Elizabeth Smart is kidnapped from her Salt Lake City home
4. Several priests of the Catholic Church are accused of abuse
5. George Bush creates the Department of Homeland Security to fight threats of terrorism
6. An estimated 40 million people worldwide are now affected with HIV/AIDS
7. The winter Olympic games are held in Salt Lake City, Utah
8. The Mars Oddyssey finds signs of water ice deposits on the planet Mars
9. Introduction of the Terror Alert System
10. Americans feel a strong sense of patriotism (because of the previous year's 9/11 attacks)
11. Clear Channel begins pulling songs from the radio which have "questionable lyrics"



Technology

1. Introduction of the first camera phone in America
2. Real Tone (excerpts from songs) ringtones become available for cell phones in America
3. Flash drives are beginning to replace the use of floppy-discs and cd's
4. Pop-up ads appear on websites