News Media Trends

Summary of Findings As many newspapers struggle to stay economically viable, fewer than half of Americans (43%) say that losing their local newspaper would hurt civic life in their community “a lot.” Even fewer (33%) say they would personally miss reading the local newspaper a lot if it were no longer available. Not unexpectedly, those […]

For the fourth week in a row, a different component of the faltering economy drove coverage of a crisis now overshadowing every other news event. And the White House and a radio host locked horns in what may actually be a symbiotic relationship.

Summary of Findings With Americans closely tracking news about the struggling economy, most are aware of the impact the recession is having on state and local budgets and the burgeoning federal deficit. A majority (57%) says they have heard “a lot” about worsening state and local budget problems as governments at all levels struggle to […]

Bloggers expressed strong opinions on two topics last week—President Obama and Tropicana orange juice. Evaluations of Obama broke down on ideological grounds while the uproar over Tropicana’s change in packaging was about brand loyalty.

As the White House moved on a number of economic fronts last week, the financial meltdown and Obama’s big speech accounted for nearly half the news agenda. And the media distilled an unmistakable message about the direction of the new administration.

Summary of Findings One month into President Obama’s administration, Americans on balance say the government is on the right track in the way it is handling the nation’s difficult economic problems. Nearly half (47%) says the government is on the right track in the way it is handling economic problems, while about a third (34%) […]

The most prominent narrative in social media online last week shifted from the stimulus bill to a critique of Obama’s first month in office. While the economic crisis was still a large topic, a policy change at Facebook created an uproar that forced the site to then change course.

The growth in readership online has not offset the decline in print for newspapers.

Google has started placing ads on Google News pages. How's that working out?

Just as the stimulus fight was ending, another debate erupted last week over the President’s new housing package. And Detroit was back, once again with its hand outstretched. Another day, another storyline in the metastasizing economic meltdown.