The Norman Lear Center and Zogby International conducted an extensive national survey examining political beliefs and entertainment preferences. The survey -- conducted June 26–29, 2007, including 3,939 adults nationwide and carrying a margin of error of +/– 1.6 percentage points -- revealed that America's entertainment tastes are as polarized as our political views. Using statistical clustering analysis, they created a political typology based on how respondents evaluated 48 statements about political values.
The findings show not only that the country is sharply divided on the topics of politics, but also deeply split in the types of entertainment and information that appeals to conservatives and liberals. For example, more than twice as many liberals say they're very often attracted to programming with political themes, compared to the rest of respondents, and this plays out in their TV show preferences, with 60 Minutes and Brothers and Sisters topping the list. Conservatives are more likely to attend sporting events than go to movie theaters, live theater or museums.
Many of the findings can be extrapolated to show further entertainment-political connections. Read the press release to find out the real reason Rush Limbaugh is much more popular than Air America, why Oprah may be Barack Obama's secret campaign weapon, why a comprehensive fix to illegal immigration may never happen, and much more.
"Our findings, hot off the press, may give candidates some ideas about where to advertise," wrote Martin Kaplan, Norman Lear Center director and holder of the Norman Lear Chair in Entertainment, Media and Society, in the Huffington Post. "But the big picture is especially interesting. It turns out that -- just as there are conservatives, liberals and moderates -- there are people with red, blue and purple taste."
