Hostages’ Release Grabs Public’s Interest : News: 46% paid ‘very close’ attention to the developments. The stories received more notice than any other so far this year, according to a survey.

The release of American hostages in the Middle East attracted nearly 50% more attention than any other news story this year, according to a monthly survey of public reaction to the news.

Nearly half of those surveyed, 46%, said they paid “very close” attention to the release of hostages Robert Polhill and Frank H. Reed, the first time this year that more than a third of the public closely followed any story, according to the Times Mirror News Interest Index.

The survey, based on interviews with 1,218 adults nationwide between May 3 and May 7, has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points. The results also may be influenced by the wording of questions and the way they are asked.

Survey participants also said they considered the hostages’ release the “most important” news event in April, the first time this year that they did not rate changes in Eastern and Central Europe as most important.

Earth Day was the second most closely followed story in April at 31%. It was particularly interesting to readers under the age of 30, in contrast to the hostage release, which tended to interest readers over 50.

The continuing clash between Lithuania and the Soviet Union was the third most-followed story--27%, about equal with previous months--followed by the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope at 24%, problems with taking the 1990 census, 24%, news of rising inflation and interest rates, 18%, May Day protests in Moscow, 9%, and civil war in Cambodia, 4%.

Nonetheless, the survey found once again that readers and viewers often take from the news what they think they need, without closely following the details.

For instance, 88% said they had heard about the death of teen-age AIDS victim Ryan White and about 75% said they knew about the decision by major tuna fish canners to require more protection for dolphins.

Six in 10 of those surveyed had heard about British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s decline in popularity and knew that the Soviet Union had cut off fuel supplies to Lithuania. More than half knew about the controversy in Cincinnati over an exhibition of Robert Mapplethorpe’s photography.

The survey also suggested that some members of the so-called “Keating Five” in the U.S. Senate are being hurt worse than others by the controversy over Lincoln Savings & Loan. The five senators allegedly intervened with regulators on behalf of Lincoln and its owner, Charles H. Keating, who was a large contributor to their campaigns.

The survey found that 11% could name Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio) as one member of the group, while 8% could cite Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.). But “virtually no one,” according to the survey’s authors, could name the other three: Michigan Democrat Donald W. Riegle Jr., 1%, Arizona Democrat Dennis A. DeConcini, 2%, or Arizona Republican John McCain, 1%.