report | Sep 28, 2009

For a Change, Foreign Policy Drives the News

For one week at least, the battle over health care reform and the troubled U.S. economy faded in the news. Instead, a series of daunting overseas challenges, highlighted by a surprise announcement about Iranian nukes, drove the press narrative.

report | Sep 24, 2009

Bloggers Focus on Obama’s Opposition

A discussion that revolved around the critics of Barack Obama and his policies dominated the blogosphere last week—with the Tea Party protests and Jimmy Carter’s remarks about race as the main catalyst. On YouTube, an exhibition of public rudeness was the most viewed video.

report | Sep 21, 2009

Health Care Tops the News and Race Resurfaces as an Issue

The debate over health care took a new turn last week, as politicians and the media reacted to a new Senate proposal. And one outgrowth of the polarizing battle was that race played its biggest role in the media narrative since Obama became president.

report | Sep 17, 2009

A Rat and an Outburst Overtake the Blogosphere

The discovery of a giant rat species in Papua New Guinea and the shout of a Congressman during Obama’s health care speech led the blogs last week. Twitter, on the other hand, proved to be ever more self-absorbed. And on YouTube, it was still health care, albeit in a more civil tone.

report | Sep 14, 2009

A Speech and a Shout Drive Health Care Coverage

Due largely to the President’s prime time address to Congress, coverage of the health care reform issue exploded last week. And an Obama speech to school children that wasn’t so controversial after all also made the top story list.

report | Sep 10, 2009

In the Blogosphere, Afghanistan Emerges as a Hot Topic

A dovish article by a conservative columnist triggered a heated blogger’s debate over Afghanistan last week while the major topics on Twitter were all related to technology. On YouTube, health care protests continue to make for popular viewing, though not quite as popular as a dancing school teacher.

report | Sep 8, 2009

From Health Care to Wildfires, a Broad Diet of News

Thanks to speculation about Barack Obama’s crucial September 9 speech, the health care debate was, once again, the week’s leading story.  But press attention more generally was split among a series of significant events, both at home and abroad.

report | Sep 3, 2009

Bipartisan Kennedy Condolences Dominate the Blogosphere

Bloggers, even more so than the mainstream press, dedicated the week to the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy. Twitter users linked to Kennedy as well, but were more caught up in new legislation that could affect their online activities. And according to YouTube clicks, health care town halls still make for good viewing.

report | Aug 31, 2009

The Death of a Liberal Lion Commands the News

The passing of the last of the fabled Kennedy brothers easily led last week’s news agenda and generated a host of storylines. And for the first time in more than a month, the fractious health care debate was relegated to the sidelines.

report | Aug 27, 2009

In Social Media, Zombies and Cocaine are the Hot Topics

Health care or zombies and cocaine? In the debate over which is better fodder for discussion, social media last week chose the latter pair—a simulation of a worldwide zombie attack and traces of cocaine on much of the U.S. currency. On YouTube, though, confrontations from the health care town hall meetings captured the most eyeballs.

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