News Media Trends

Coverage of the nation’s financial crisis reached new heights last week as Congress struggled to produce a bailout package. But when it came to the presidential campaign narrative, the match-up in Missouri proved more interesting to the media.

Summary of Findings Interest in news about the U.S. economy skyrocketed last week, with 70% of Americans following economic developments very closely, up from 56% the previous week. Interest in economic news is broadly bipartisan with equal proportions of Republicans, Democrats and independents following news about current economic conditions very closely. The public also paid […]

Political pundits, seeing no knockout punch, scored a tie. But viewers awarded the win to Obama.

In a week in which he injected both suspense and personal dramatics into the campaign storyline, Republican John McCain was the leading newsmaker. But after a debate that the public scored differently than the press, it was Barack Obama getting the more positive headlines.

Summary of Findings Views of John McCain turned somewhat more negative last week, amid record public interest in economic news. In a survey conducted Sept. 19-22, fully half of the public said their opinion of the GOP nominee had changed in the past few days, with 30% saying their opinion has become less favorable and […]

How do the news media cover the issue of immigration? A new PEJ study, produced in collaboration with the Brookings Institution and The University of Southern California Norman Lear Center, reveals the uneven, and episodic nature of the media's approach, based on a close look at the year 2007.

Even the Palin phenomenon took a back seat last week as a profound crisis in the financial markets dominated the headlines. In a campaign season of constantly changing storylines, will this become the dominant issue that determines the outcome?

Since being named to the GOP ticket by John McCain, Sarah Palin has generated extensive coverage of many aspects of her background, her record in public office and her family life. But what are voters learning from the media about the Alaska Governor’s religious faith and beliefs?

Summary of Findings Sarah Palin continued to be a dominant factor in presidential campaign coverage last week, but her impact on the race remains unclear and her public image is very much in flux. Palin clearly has boosted John McCain’s visibility. From mid-June through the last week of August, Barack Obama consistently led McCain as […]