Indexes

The media geared up for fireworks and drama when senators questioned Barack Obama’s first Supreme Court nominee. But the narrative turned out very differently. And coverage of the economic crisis seems stuck in a predictable pattern.

For social media, it was a week of pick your platform. Twitter remained intensely focused on the situation in Iran. YouTube was overwhelmingly devoted to Michael Jackson’s passing. And the blogosphere was more divided overall but led with Sarah Palin’s surprise announcement.

As has been the case since his death, Michael Jackson dominated the headlines last week—with his July 7 memorial service as the major newsmaker. And while the struggling economy continued to generate attention, the No. 3 story was the ongoing press buzz over the outgoing Alaska Governor.

In a week that exposed dramatically different news agendas between social and mainstream media, online commentators shifted away from the King of Pop to focus on a 30-year-old technological breakthrough and the death of an offbeat TV celebrity. The most viewed YouTube video captured an impromptu cell phone snafu.

There were major events at home and abroad last week. But the media spotlight remained on the “King of Pop” as the story expanded from recollections of his career and tributes from his fans to a series of medical, legal and possibly even criminal issues.

The online community focused on two primary subjects last week – the passing of singer Michael Jackson and the continuing unrest in Iran. The reaction to the King of Pop’s death, along with stunning video of an Iranian woman referred to as “Neda,” demonstrated again not only the power of social media but the range of its use.

Even by midweek, the media had begun to shift focus from protests in Iran to a political sex scandal in South Carolina. But all that was before the death of the best-selling recording artist whose troubled life and pioneering music made him an icon. By the time the week ended, focus on Michael Jackson’s passing overwhelmed all other media stories.

The protests in Iran consumed blogs and social media last week. Web users disseminated information, organized and demonstrated solidarity with protestors. In addition to tracking the blogosphere, this week’s New Media Index takes a look at Twitter and the explosion of tweets about Iran.

The intensifying protests and political ferment inside Iran eclipsed some major domestic stories in the U.S. news agenda last week. And as the mainstream press confronted daunting restrictions on coverage, an outpouring of social media reports—but not all from Twitter—helped drive the Iran narrative.

Bloggers and social media were consumed with two events in the last week that triggered an online debate about political extremism—one in Europe and one in Washington D.C. And the most-viewed news video on YouTube was the start of a feud between David Letterman and Sarah Palin.