Clueless.

• Author: Postrel, Virginia I.

Most people don't pay much attention to the news - which makes you wonder about those polls.

During the federal government's first shutdown last fall, CNN sent a reporter out to get the proverbial man-in-the-street's thoughts on the subject. The reporter roamed what's usually referred to as "the affluent Westside" of Los Angeles, asking people why the government was closed and what Congress and the president were arguing about.

Not surprisingly, they didn't have a clue. The best answer was a vague reference to Medicare. All in all, these seemingly well-educated, well-to-do Americans had absolutely no interest in Beltway disputes and, with one exception, they weren't ashamed to admit it.

Washington viewers undoubtedly chalked up this ignorance to Southern Californians' notorious propensity to ignore weighty issues - we're reputedly all airheads out here in the sunshine. But while it's true that Los Angeles is less politically intense than many cities, those men and women in the street could have been just about anywhere.

In late December, what used to be called the Times Mirror Center for the People and the Press released a compilation of six years of research on what news stories Americans followed, and how closely, and on what facts people know. (Thanks to budget cutting at Times Mirror, as of January 1 the center has become the Pew Research Center.) The results: People pay attention to disasters, natural and man-made, and wars involving U.S. troops. They pretty much ignore everything else. And they know precious few facts about national issues.

For example, write the researchers, "an August 1995 survey about Congressional issues found that among the public at large, 21 percent knew at least three out of four well-reported facts: 1) that the House had passed more legislation than the Senate, 2) that the telecommunications bill would deregulate the telephone industry, 3) that Medicare's long term solvency was in question, and 4) that Clinton opposed GOP proposals to lift the Bosnian arms embargo."

Ignorance declined with age, with 30 percent of those over 65 knowing three out of four facts, versus a mere 8 percent of those under 30. And women were particularly ignorant: Only 12 percent knew three out of four answers, compared to 30 percent among men. These results do not exactly suggest a well-informed American public.

Indeed, despite reports in major newspapers and on cable and broadcast TV, the Times Mirror survey itself hasn't penetrated...