• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, March 9, 2022

The vast majority of Americans (85%) says they have noticed more media coverage about a potential nuclear war since Russian President Vladimir Putin began implying it as part of his invasion of Ukraine. Even more alarming, more than a third of Americans believe the increased coverage making a nuclear conflict more likely.

Those are some of the findings of survey MediaPost conducted Tuesday among U.S. adults via Pollfish in order to better understand how media coverage of the rhetoric was affecting the sentiment of Americans as we enter what appears to be a new Cold War with an old nuclear adversary.

One of the reasons so many believe increased media coverage about the threat of nuclear war might make it more of a reality, is the perception that it could help "normalize" it by preconditioning people to accept it as a reality, even though Putin himself has declared in the past that a nuclear war is "unwinnable."

But Putin has also changed Russia's military doctrine to include the potential use of "tactical," short-range nuclear battlefield weapons, and he's also been ramping up his nuclear rhetoric.

To what extent the U.S. media has being spun by that may never be clear, but when we asked Americans to characterize coverage about potential nuclear war, most say it has been an "appropriate" amount, or just enough to get their attention and make them aware of it.

Nearly a third said they felt media coverage was either "way too much" or "more than appropriate."

Interestingly, when we asked Americans to characterize why Putin is spinning his nuclear rhetoric, a third said they believed he is "serious" about using nuclear weapons, while a third said they thought he is "crazy."