News Content Analysis

Contrary to what happens with most major national news events, the discussion of the death of Osama bin Laden in the mainstream and new media has not shifted quickly to political winners and losers. An analysis of hundreds of thousands of stories and millions of social media postings finds the discussion has remained focused on the facts of what happened. A new PEJ study has the details.

Summary of Findings Majorities of Americans say news organizations focused too much last week on both the royal wedding in England and the release of the long-form version of Barack Obama’s birth certificate. Nearly two-thirds (64%) say the press gave too much coverage to the April 29 wedding in London of Prince William and Kate […]

A natural disaster at home, a royal wedding abroad and the release of a birth certificate were all among the big news-making events from April 25-May 1. News about the economy and violence in the Middle East vied for attention too. But all that changed abruptly in the week’s waning hours.  

Several local issues in California generated attention in the blogosphere last week, two of them involving allegations of political skullduggery. On Twitter, some bloggers fretted about questions concerning Apple and privacy. And on YouTube, a world leader was caught in the act of petty theft.

Summary of Findings The public has expressed modest interest in the run-up to the royal wedding. And while news coverage of the royal wedding is now ramping up, nearly two-thirds of the public (64%) say they think it has gotten too much coverage. Just 8% say they followed news about the upcoming wedding of England’s […]

The fighting in the Mideast, and especially Libya, topped the news last week, narrowly ahead of the U.S. economy. But perhaps the most interesting development was the emergence of the presidential campaign as a major story—thanks in large part to one controversial candidate-in-waiting.

Bloggers and tweeters agreed last week that Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ upcoming biography was big news while another high-tech executive generated major attention on blogs for walking out on an interview. A touching reunion between a woman and her dog was among the top YouTube videos.

Summary of Findings Donald Trump has drawn a lot of attention in a slow-starting race for the GOP nomination. Roughly a quarter of all Americans (26%) name Trump as the possible Republican presidential candidate they have heard most about lately, far more than volunteer any other candidate. Among Republicans, 39% name Trump as most visible […]

For a second week in a row, the media focused on the economy and away from foreign affairs. Last week, driven by a Presidential speech, the government shutdown was replaced with a larger debate about national fiscal priorities. Lurking in the background was the 2012 presidential race, a story that gave tycoon and Obama birth certificate skeptic Donald Trump a platform of his own.

Bloggers last week continued to follow the troubling news coming out of Japan and returned to a familiar topic—global warming—in stark contrast to the mainstream media’s attention to Beltway budget battles. Google’s new video initiative was No. 1 on Twitter while soccer-related violence was the top YouTube news clip.