News Content Analysis

With the political battle over health care legislation intensifying in Washington, that subject generated its highest level of coverage, by far, last week. But a remark by the president at the end of his health care press conference quickly changed the news agenda.

Contrary to the mainstream media focus on the Sotomayor confirmation hearings last week, social media reflected a very different news agenda. On blogs, Sarah Palin’s political future and views on energy policy dominated. On Twitter, Iran led the conversation for a fifth week in a row. And on YouTube, a controversy over a photo of President Obama was resolved.

Summary of Findings The debate over revamping the nation’s health care system is drawing increased public attention. A third (33%) say they are following the health care debate very closely, up from 24% the previous week. And while news coverage of health care also increased over the past week, a sizable minority of Americans (45%) […]

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.

Summary of Findings The death of pop star Michael Jackson continued to grab public attention last week, with Americans saying it was the story they followed most closely for the third straight week. Moreover, Jackson’s death was by far the week’s most talked about news story. About three-in-ten (29%) say they followed Jackson’s memorial service […]

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.

Summary of Findings From January through May, a growing proportion of Americans said they were hearing a mix of good and bad news about the economy. More recently, however, there has been a steady increase in the share saying that the economic news is mostly bad. Currently, 41% say they are hearing mostly bad news […]

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.