News Coverage

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.

  Summary of Findings The public divided its attention last week between two major stories: the aftermath of the deadly earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the budget battle in Washington that nearly led to a government shutdown. About a third say they followed news about the aftermath of the disasters in Japan (34%) or […]

The media narrative moved from overseas to the Beltway last week as budget battles trumped press interest in Libyan fighting and Japanese nuclear worries. The question is whether a long run of dominant international news will now give way to ongoing coverage of domestic concerns.

From a Supreme Court decision to the discovery of ancient books, bloggers hit on a variety of topics last week——a very different list than that of the mainstream media. And YouTube viewers gave top billing to images from Japan.

Summary of Findings With the employment picture slowly improving in recent months, fewer Americans say they are hearing mostly bad news about the job situation. At the same time, perceptions of news about prices – especially gas prices – remain overwhelmingly negative. Currently, 43% say they are hearing mostly bad news about the job situation […]