News Content Analysis

Obama’s replacement of General McChrystal as the head of NATO forces in Afghanistan generated voluminous political analysis last week. Coverage of the war approached a level not seen since late last year. Meanwhile, the Gulf oil spill continued to attract headlines, as did Wall Street reform. 

The disaster in the Gulf of Mexico became a hot topic in blogs and on Twitter last week, with the discussion focused on a range of storylines. At the same time, two subjects that had generated little attention in recent weeks—the economy and the war in Afghanistan—also drew significant interest. On YouTube, a Congressman’s angry response to being filmed drew almost 2.5 million views.

Summary of Findings While the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico has accounted for an overwhelming proportion of recent news coverage, most Americans say the press is giving the right amount of attention to the still-unfolding disaster. The latest News Interest Index survey conducted June 17-20 among 1,009 adults by the Pew Research Center […]

Damage control in Washington overtook damage control in the Gulf of Mexico as the BP oil spill generated its biggest week of media coverage since the April 20 rig explosion that triggered the disaster. The narrative was driven, in large part, by a president who spoke to the nation and an oil executive who took a pounding from Congress.

The drive for health care reform legislation proved to be the most passionate and polarizing policy fight of Barack Obama’s first year in office, with the public and Congress deeply divided over the initiative. And much of that battle played out through a changing media universe. A new PEJ study, examining 10 months of health care stories, identifies some of the key elements of that coverage.

Even as the story died down in the mainstream media last week, bloggers continued to debate the Israeli interdiction of a Turkish supply ship that left nine people dead. On Twitter, the focus on computer giant Apple continued. And on YouTube, a startling car accident drew more than three million hits.

Summary of Findings News about the economy has been overshadowed by the Gulf oil leak in recent weeks. And in the public’s view, the economic news has not improved. Currently, 65% say they are hearing a mix of good and bad news about the economy, while 30% say they are hearing mostly bad news and […]

In a week when voters went to the polls in 12 states and worries about the federal budget deficit grew, it was the spill of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico that really captured the media’s attention—again. For the third week in a row, the growing disaster accounted for at least one-third of the newshole as finger-pointing became a larger aspect of the coverage.