News Coverage

The Attorney General faced a grilling from Congress, the Supreme Court weighed in on abortion rights, hundreds were slaughtered in a single day in Iraq, and a vicious storm wreaked havoc on the East Coast. But each of those events last week was completely overshadowed by the media’s non-stop coverage of the horrific events that unfolded on the campus of Virginia Tech.

To say Don Imus’s controversial words were a big topic on the talk shows last week is an understatement. The Imus story ruled the talk airwaves like no other since the Index began, taking up 61% of the talk time. But often Imus was less the subject of the talk than a way to take on other people and issues.

Summary of Findings Americans, both black and white, generally agree with the punishment radio host Don Imus received for the racist and sexist remarks he made about the Rutgers University’s women basketball team. Nonetheless, there are substantial racial differences in views of Imus’s punishment, and an even bigger gap in opinions about news media’s coverage […]

In a week that marked the fourth anniversary of the fall of Saddam Hussein and the end of the Duke lacrosse scandal, the remarks of a cable and radio talk show host dominated the news media. The fall of Don Imus had just the mix of ingredients that tend to seize the media imagination.

Summary of Findings High-profile candidates and the accelerated pace of the 2008 presidential campaign have drawn the public into the race far earlier than in past election cycles. In this week’s survey, 55% of Americans say they are tracking news about the candidates for the 2008 presidential election very or fairly closely. Public interest has […]

The Iranian hostage situation and the argument over Iraq policy were hot topics on the cable and radio talk shows last week. But in some ways, the U.S. Speaker of the House’s decision to talk to the President of Syria shed even more light on how the talk universe really works.

The now-resolved hostage crisis with Iran attracted the most media coverage last week while the investigation into the fired U.S. attorneys went on temporary hiatus. But even with the voting 19 months away, the 2008 race for the White House continues to fascinate the press, the second story only behind the debate over the war in Iraq.

While the media focused more on British sailors held in Iran and the US attorneys scandal, news from Iraq remains the public's clear priority. The core Anna Nicole Smith audience remains as large as in February, despite far more limited press coverage.

Summary of Findings Four years into the Iraq war, most Americans say they have little or no confidence in the information they receive – from either the military or the media – about how things are going on the ground. Fewer than half (46%) say they have a great deal or fair amount of confidence […]

There was a disagreement between the nation’s radio and cable talk hosts over the juiciest talk topic last week. The fired U.S. attorneys topped the cable menu while the 2008 Presidential race was the leading topic on radio. Meanwhile, hosts in both media sectors rattled their sabers at Iran.