The idea that new immigrants are linked to increases in crime levels is a persistent one with a long history in American culture. Many experts say that some Americans link crime with immigration because it gives them an easy scapegoat, and in surveys typically between a quarter to half of Americans believe that immigration makes crime worse.

Student loan debt has become an increasing problem in recent years. As the New York Federal Reserve notes in a 2013 report, “Over the last eight years, aggregate educational debt outstanding has almost tripled, rising to nearly $1 trillion and becoming the largest consumer liability after mortgages.”

Employment in the newspaper industry hit a peak of 56,900 editorial jobs in 1989, but as print circulation has dropped, so have jobs: By 2010 newsroom employment had fallen 27%, to 41,500. In response, news organizations have been building their online offerings and adjusting advertising and subscription strategies, but print income continues to fall more quickly than it can be replaced digitally.

A 2012 report from the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Economist Group, “The Future of Mobile News,” found that an estimated 50% of U.S. adults now own either a tablet device or smartphone that connects to the Internet, and 66% of these device users say they get news from these mobile devices.