One way to measure being informed on public affairs is simply to ask respondents whether they follow the news or public affairs. We also combine two indicators to obtain a reliable estimate of newspaper reading, a powerful correlate of civic engagement that has declined steadily. Reading blogs will enter the Index in 2005. (Reading newspapers online should be captured by the existing survey questions.) We excluded television news because exposure to news programming does not, in general, accompany civic engagement. Although there are excellent news and public affairs programs, watching television news (as a general category) is not a reliable civic indicator.

DETAILS
▪ “Follow public affairs”: NES asks: “Some people seem to follow or think about what’s going on in government and public affairs most of the time, whether there’s an election going on or not. Others aren’t that in- terested. Would you say you follow what’s going on in government and public affairs most of the time, some of the time, only now and then, or hardly at all?” We count those who say “most of the time.”

▪ Two measures of newspaper-reading are combined into one indicator:
▫ GSS asks: “How often do you read the newspaper?” We count those who say, “Every day.”
▫ NES asks: “How many days in the past week did you read a daily newspaper?” We count twice or more.

▪ “Read a Weblog”: DDB asks about reading blogs or weblogs. We count nine or more times in the previous year.