News Content Analysis

Mitt Romney is clearly the candidate the public says they are hearing the most news about, while mentions of Sarah Palin have plummeted over the past two weeks.

The 2012 campaign was the top story last week as Republican hopefuls met in a New Hampshire debate that produced some media winners and losers. Worries about the economy were a close No. 2. And three weeks after the initial scandal broke, Anthony Weiner’s resignation was major news.

The new Apple operating system sent Twitter users buzzing last week while bloggers kept a close eye on a courtroom battle over the new health care law. And on YouTube, Sarah Palin’s retelling of Paul Revere’s ride was the lead video.

Overview Americans focused most closely last week on economic news amid continued reports about the weakness of the recovery, while the media gave the most coverage to the scandal involving New York Rep. Anthony Weiner. About a quarter of the public (23%) says the economy was their top story of the week, according to the […]

The media were riveted last week by a made-for-headlines scandal involving one of the more combative members of Congress. The U.S. economy, the chaos in the Mideast and the emerging presidential race also generated significant attention, but they could not rival a story about the intersection of sex and politics.

For the first time in two months—driven largely by the Sarah Palin bus tour—the news discussion on blogs turned back to politics. On Twitter, business strategies for social media and concerns about global warming led the way. And on YouTube, the economic crisis in Spain was the subject of the two most popular videos.

Overview Following a series of downbeat reports about housing, jobs and the stock market, the public’s perceptions of economic news have turned much more negative. Fully 46% say they are hearing mostly bad news about the nation’s economy, up nine points since last month and the highest percentage since March 2009. Nearly as many now […]

Bad economic news became a political story last week as analysts evaluated the impact on President Obama’s fortunes. Sarah Palin’s bus tour drew as much attention as Mitt Romney’s presidential announcement with the campaign generating its highest level of coverage yet. And two political scandals provoked much speculation and one indictment.

A Supreme Court decision forcing California to release thousands of prisoners due to overcrowding received harsh criticism from bloggers last week, while others weighed in on the arrest of a suspect in a brutal baseball game beating. On YouTube, an interview with Jon Stewart on The O’Reilly Factor garnered the most attention.

Overview The devastating tornadoes that ripped through the Midwest last week dominated the public’s news interest and received much more coverage than any other story. About half of the public (48%) says they followed news about the powerful tornadoes that struck Joplin, Mo., more closely than any other news last week. None of the week’s […]