News Media Trends

Summary of Findings The public focused much more on President Obama’s major policy proposals and decisions than on lighter, more personal stories about the new president and his family in the early days of his administration. Nearly seven-in-ten Americans (69%) say they heard a lot about Obama’s push for quick action on his economic stimulus […]

One week after Barack Obama’s swearing in, the battle over a stimulus plan restored the financial meltdown to a dominant role in the news agenda and triggered early questions about the President’s political skills. In the media narrative, the honeymoon chapter seemed over before it began.

While Rush’s syndicated radio show does not have the reach of other conservative favorites like Bill O’Reilly’s television program, his audience is by far the most conservative of any program or network tested by a Pew Research survey. It was also the most male.

Bloggers and the mainstream media alike focused intently on one storyline last week. In its maiden edition, PEJ’s “New Media Index” examines the most discussed news on blogs, user news sites, and other social media and compares it to the mainstream media.

Our colleagues at the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism have developed a New Media Index and are unveiling it today.

Summary of Findings The public paid very close attention to the inauguration of Barack Obama as president last week, while keeping a close eye on the nation’s troubled economy. More than four-in-ten (42%) Americans say the inauguration of the nation’s first black president was the news story they followed most closely. By comparison, 25% say […]

Barack Obama’s official transition to power swamped the news last week. And even that may understate the extent to which he commandeered the agenda, with an early edict on Gitmo and a full-court press on a stimulus package.

Summary of Findings Americans last week followed the dramatic emergency landing of US Airways flight 1549 in New York’s Hudson River as closely as they followed news about the nation’s number one problem: the troubled economy. One-in-four say the crash – which resulted in no fatalities and turned pilot Chesley Sullenberger into a national hero […]

by Richard Wike, Associate Director, Pew Global Attitudes Project, and Michael Remez, Senior Writer, Pew Research Center for the People & the Press The celebratory tone that characterized international media coverage of Barack Obama’s historic election victory was again pervasive in many of the stories about his inauguration as the 44th American president. “History was […]

Summary of Findings Public awareness of Barack Obama’s choices for cabinet and other high level posts is substantially higher than awareness of the top picks by George W. Bush and Bill Clinton just before they were first inaugurated. About two-thirds of Americans (65%) can name at least one person that Obama has chosen for a […]