News Coverage

The news programs that Americans watch on national cable channels and their local television stations have changed significantly in recent years while the network evening newscasts have remained remarkably stable, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center.

https://legacy.pewresearch.org/journalism/2012/12/20/social-media-and-opinion-pages-newtown-sparks-calls-gun-reform/ This special report by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism on media reaction to the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut uses data derived from four different methodologies. Data regarding the tone of conversation on social media (Twitter and blogs) were derived with a combination of PEJ’s traditional media research methods, based on […]

Here’s a look at the public’s top 15 news stories of 2012, according to Pew Research Center’s News Interest Index.

The public’s news interests were very much focused on domestic developments this year, with the election outcome, last week’s horrific school shooting and Hurricane Sandy leading the list of the top stories of 2012. With the exception of the attack on a U.S. consulate in Libya in September, which became a bitterly debated campaign issue, […]

Gun control was an immediate focus of the conversation on social media and in the opinion pages of newspapers following the shooting at Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary School, according to a special PEJ report. How does the response to this tragedy compare with other shootings? How did coverage in opinion pieces differ than the social media conversation? The report offers answers.

Overview The shootings at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. on Friday have drawn widespread public interest. A weekend survey finds that 57% of Americans say they followed news about the tragedy there very closely. That is higher than interest in the shootings at an Aurora, Colo. movie theater in July (49% very closely), though […]

Religion played a minor role in coverage of the 2012 campaign, even though the race pitted the first major Mormon nominee against an incumbent whose faith has been a source of controversy. A new report from PEJ and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life examines role of faith in 15 months of campaign coverage.

Overview In a busy news week, more Americans say they followed the debate over the “fiscal cliff” very closely than the investigations into the Libya embassy attack, renewed violence in the Middle East or the FBI investigation that led to David Petraeus’s resignation as CIA Director after it found he was having an extra-marital affair. […]

Obama enjoyed a surge of positive news coverage the last week of the campaign—one of his best weeks in months—in the wake of new polls and Superstorm Sandy. How did Mitt Romney fare? Was the tone of the conversation different on social media than in the mainstream press? A new report offers answers.

Overview Just over half of the public (53%) say they followed news about Hurricane Sandy and the storm’s impact very closely last week, outpacing interest in the 2012 presidential election (47% very closely) and news about the U.S. economy (38% very closely). The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & […]