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Via Annie Lowrey, here’s a Pew poll measuring knowledge of current events:

I guess you can try to draw some conclusions from the fact that Republicans are more likely to know that Greece got a bailout from the EU while Democrats are more likely to know who the prime minister of Great Britain is. But I’m not sure what. What’s more interesting, I think is that independents do better than partisans of either stripe on virtually every question. The differences aren’t huge, but they’re quite clear.

What makes this odd is that independents are traditionally stereotyped as being less interested in politics and more apathetic than partisans. And maybe they are. But for a bunch of disengaged couch potatoes, they sure seem to know a fair amount about current affairs.

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Managing an independent, nonprofit newsroom is staggeringly hard. There’s no cushion in our budget—no backup revenue, no corporate safety net. We can’t afford to fall short, and we can’t rely on corporations or deep-pocketed interests to fund the fierce, investigative journalism Mother Jones exists to do. That’s why we need you right now. Please chip in to help close the gap.

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