News Interest
Just 15% say they very closely followed news that broke late in the week about deadly protests in Afghanistan that followed a Florida pastor’s burning of a Koran; 1% say this was the news they followed most closely. This story accounted for 1% of coverage.
And 13% say they followed the NCAA basketball tournament very closely, down slightly from the 18% that said this in 2010; 5% say this was the news they followed most closely. News about the tournament accounted for 1% of the coverage measured by PEJ.
News Interest  | % following each story very closely  | Which one story did you follow most closely?  | 50  | 50  | Disaster in Japan  | U.S. Economy  | 42  | 14  | Libya air strikes  | 37  | 13  | Budget deficit  | 30  | 13  | NCAA basketball  | Deadly Koran protests 15  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER, closely Mar31-Apr 3 2011. April Percentage following "very closely" based on April 1-3, 2011 for Deadly Koran  | protests Most closely ranking Mar31-Apr based on April Percentage 1-3 polling, following 