Poll: Trayvon Martin Opinion Splits On Partisan & Racial Lines
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The Trayvon Martin shooting has been the lead story on most newscasts for the better part of the last two weeks. But interest in the case has split public opinion down both partisan and racial lines according to a new Pew Research Center poll.
According to the poll, Republicans have grown tired of the coverage with 56 percent saying there has been "too much" coverage of Martin's shooting by self-appointed neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman.
By comparison, just 25 percent of Democrats and 37 percent of Independent voters told Pew that there has been too much coverage of Trayvon's death.
The poll found, however, that just 19 percent of Republicans were following the case closely compared to 38 percent of Democrats and 28 percent of independents.
In addition, Pew found that 43 percent of white Americans said there has been too much coverage of Martin's death, while just 16 percent of African-Americans said there had been too much coverage.
Overall, 37 percent said news agencies were covering the Trayvon Martin story too much, while 40 percent said journalists were giving the story about the right amount of coverage.
The Trayvon Martin case captured the public's attention over the last week. Pew found the Trayvon Case had the most news interest from the public and was the second most covered news item last week behind only the health care law hearing in front of the Supreme Court.
