News Content Analysis

The Simpson arrest and Hillary Clinton’s health care proposal proved irresistible fodder for the talk show universe last week. Plus, why some newsmakers—like Dan Rather and Alan Greenspan—got more attention on talk shows than in the general news coverage.

Summary of Findings O.J. Simpson’s recent arrest on robbery and assault charges was the most heavily covered news story last week. Yet public interest in the Simpson case was fairly modest. Overall, just 13% of Americans say they followed reports about Simpson’s arrest very closely, while 17% listed it as the single story they followed […]

The arrest of O.J. Simpson not only conjured up memories of the famous murder trial of a dozen years ago, it also recalled the media feeding frenzy that surrounded that trial. And as was the case back in 1995, the story last week was a made-for-TV drama.

Summary of Findings Hillary Clinton continues to lead Barack Obama by a wide margin in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. But Obama has something Clinton doesn’t have — the support of Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey endorsed Obama in May of this year and recently held a fundraiser for him at her Malibu, Calif. home. […]

General David Petraeus’ appearance on Capitol Hill last week helped turn the Iraq debate into one of the biggest talk topics of the year. The general may not have changed many minds in Congress, but he provided talk hosts on both sides of the political spectrum with plenty of ammunition.

The general’s appearance before Congress last week was widely expected to be a pivot point in the political brawl over Iraq war policy. The media swarmed, but the story they told may help explain why David Petraeus’s testimony seemed, for now, to cement the status quo.

Summary of Findings The 2008 presidential campaign was once again a big story last week with most news coverage devoted to the Republican presidential candidates. While media coverage focused primarily on Republicans, the public directed most of its attention to the Democratic contenders. When asked which candidate they have heard the most about in the […]

One is a longtime senator who may be driven from office by scandal. Another is a former senator who announced his intent to seek the highest office in the land. Both were target-rich environments for the talk shows last week and both took their share of lumps. This, plus Michael Savage’s memorable Pavarotti tribute.

What would a world in which citizens set the news agenda rather than editors look like? A new PEJ study comparing user-news sites, like Digg, Del.icio.us,and Reddit, with mainstream news outlets provides some initial answers. The snapshot suggests both a drastically different set of topics and information sources.

The political skirmishing in advance of General Petraeus’ progress report made the Iraq debate the top story last week. And Fred Thompson’s entry helped generate coverage of the 2008 Presidential race. But a new video, a major arrest in Germany, and two mysterious men in Seattle proved why terrorism is still a major newsmaker.