News Content Analysis

Overview The Penn State child sex abuse scandal topped the public’s news interest last week, but Americans also continued to closely track news about the nation’s economy. The public’s perceptions of economic news, which took a decided downturn in August, are much less negative today. Currently, 48% say they are hearing mostly bad news about […]

Twitter has been embraced by news organizations today, but is used in limited ways, according to a new study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism and The George Washington University.

With additional women coming forward with sexual harassment allegations against Herman Cain, the 2012 presidential race was the No. 1 story for the second week in a row.

Overview Public interest in the presidential campaign showed no increase this week, despite the news media’s increasing coverage of sexual harassment allegations against Herman Cain. About one-in-five Americans (22%) say they followed news about the 2012 candidates very closely, little changed from a week earlier (21%), according to the latest weekly News Interest Index survey, […]

A new report documents how the swirl of sexual harassment allegations contributed to surprise frontrunner Herman Cain’s most difficult week of news coverage to date.

Overview A combination of intertwined economic and political stories topped the public’s news interest last week. No single story dominated Americans’ attention. Nearly two-in-ten (17%) say reports about the condition of the economy was their top story, while 14% cite news about the candidates for president in 2012 as the story they followed most closely. […]

After a brief one-week absence, the U.S. economy re-emerged as the top story last week.

Overview Americans divided their attention last week among several breaking news stories – from the death of Moammar Gadhafi in Libya to the release of dozens of dangerous wild animals in Ohio to the announced withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq– while still keeping a close watch on news about the nation’s economy. No single […]

A news week that began with the campaign ended with the death of Muammar Gaddafi. 

Overview The public focused most closely last week on two interrelated news stories – the nation’s struggling economy and the anti-Wall Street protests that have now spread far beyond their beginnings in New York City. Two-in-ten (20%) say their top story was reports about the condition of the U.S. economy. That’s about the same as […]