News Media Trends

After weeks of shifting campaign narratives, the results May 6 in North Carolina and Indiana results convinced many journalists and pundits that the long and grueling Democratic primary fight was finally resolved. From Tim Russert to Time magazine, the news industry last week declared Barack Obama the winner.

In a survey last year, Americans named Jon Stewart one of the nation’s most admired journalists, despite the Comedy Central host’s insistence that’s not what he does. A new PEJ content analysis of 136 episodes of The Daily Show examines the intersection of comedy and news that is the key to the show’s success.

Summary of Findings The latest round of news about Barack Obama and his former pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright dominated campaign news coverage last week. According to the Project for Excellence in Journalism’s (PEJ) Campaign Coverage Index, 42% of all campaign coverage last week dealt with the Rev. Wright controversy. Wright’s comments are by far the […]

May 6, 2008 Before the pope’s plane – dubbed “Shepherd One” – touched down at Andrews Air Force Base on April 15, the news media portrayed Pope Benedict XVI as a largely unknown religious figure about to introduce himself to American Catholics still recovering from the clergy sex abuse scandal. By the time he left, […]

A single pair of follow-up stories to The New York Times military analyst expose have appeared in the mainstream press, according to a PEJ analysis.

Jeremiah Wright’s media tour drove the campaign narrative last week, generating intense speculation about his motives and the impact on Barack Obama’s candidacy. In an election noted for coverage of gaffes and controversy, no story line has had as much staying power as the minister and the candidate.

Summary of Findings Over the past six weeks the intense, and often negative, contest between Obama and Clinton has dominated media coverage of the campaign as well as public attention. And over this period, more Americans have consistently said their views of Obama and Clinton have become less favorable, rather than more favorable, in recent […]

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton generated a huge portion of the headlines last week as Pennsylvanians finally went to the polls. The issue of race re-emerged to play a substantial role in the media’s Democratic campaign narrative. And Republican John McCain struggled to be heard through the din.

Summary of Findings Interest in what the public perceives as an excessively negative presidential campaign declined in the days leading up to the Pennsylvania primary. Just 29% of Americans say they paid very close attention to news about the presidential campaign last week, the lowest percentage recorded since December 2007. By comparison, 43% said they […]

Many people expected Rupert Murdoch to be an activist owner when he bought the Wall Street Journal last year. So what’s happened to the paper under his tenure? A PEJ study of Journal front pages finds that under the new regime, there’s a lot less business and a lot more Beltway.