Nope, most Catholics only know what they hear on the news as well, and that is the biggest problem. They barely make it to Mass once a week, and don't avail themselves of the opportunities that exist to learn about their rich Faith.
The media distorts the teachings of the Church, sometimes out of malice, but most of the time because the journalists are not Catholic and don't understnad what's behind the teachings. In the most recent events, the media has made it seem like MOST priests are abusers and that is just NOT the case. Most priests are faithful men who are stuggling with the work they do with Catholics who are more and more secularized each day. Some priests find it hard to preach the tough things that need to be said. They don't want to be thought ill of, and they'd catch hell from folks who want to do their own thing but still consider themselves Catholic.
The biggest problem in the Catholic Church in America is that the 60's saw the idealists getting into Chanceries to try to 'make a difference' after Vatican II. Unfortunately, their changes bore little resemblance to what Vatican II actually said, they just wanted change for change's sake. Those folks are getting older and close to retirement, Thank heavens, and there is a new generation coming up that is scaring them to death. These younger folks have been educated in Catholic Colleges which are rooted in solid Catholic teaching, not the touchy feely, New Age stuff that's been taught at too many nominally Catholic colleges over the last 30 yrs. These new folks will bring some sanity back to the running of Diocese's and folks in the pews will begin to see the differences in the next few years.