News Media Trends

The Shirley Sherrod saga started with a video posted online and ended with a flurry of finger pointing.  In a special report, PEJ reconstructs a chronology of how the story reverberated around the media echo chamber before dramatically changing course. And this week’s News Coverage Index finds that the tale of the USDA employee prematurely forced out of her job was the No. 2 story in the news agenda.

The fallout from the firing of Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod and the one-year anniversary of the controversial arrest of African American Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., have put race back in the news. How much coverage do African Americans receive? What role did race play in coverage of the Obama Administration? A new study examining media coverage of African Americans in the first year of the Obama presidency offers answers.

Election-year politics and a noteworthy poll made up the hottest story in the blogosphere last week. Meanwhile on Twitter, a technology topic involving oft-scrutinized Apple topped the news agenda. And on YouTube, the most popular subject by far was Paul the octopus, the world-class World Cup handicapper.

Summary of Findings Amid reports that BP has been able to at least temporarily stem the flow of oil from its ruptured underwater well, the public and the media last week again focused on the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. And, after several months of relentlessly bad news about the spreading spill, the possibility […]

After several weeks of decreasing coverage, the Gulf oil saga spiked upward last week amid news of possible success in stopping the flow. Coverage of a bill to regulate the financial sector, infighting among Democrats, violence and progress in Afghanistan and the death of a baseball mogul rounded out the roster of top stories.

An Internet prank aimed at 16-year-old pop star Justin Bieber provided amusement for many in the social media world last week. Social media also debated several legal issues ranging from immigration to the digital economy. And on YouTube, CNN host Anderson Cooper’s commentary on the lack of media access to the oil spill cleanup drew the most hits.

Summary of Findings As the public continues to closely track news about the environmental disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico, few Americans say news organization are giving the oil leak too much coverage. The Gulf oil leak once again topped both public interest and media coverage last week, though the percent following the story […]

The environmental disaster in the Gulf continued to draw media attention last week, though far below the levels it once commanded. Coverage of the politics surrounding the mid-term elections edged out a mixed bag of economic news for the No. 2 slot. And an NBA superstar proved to be one of the week’s biggest newsmakers.

Summary of Findings Public perceptions of economic news have turned much more negative. Currently, 42% say they are hearing mostly bad news about the economy, the highest percentage in a year. Last month, 30% of the public said they were hearing mostly bad news about the economy. The proportion saying they are hearing a mix […]

Civil liberties were the hot topics across social media last week. Bloggers debated the Supreme Court decision on gun ownership and Finland’s law making Internet access a legal right. Twitter drew attention to the discovery of a privacy leak on the website Foursquare. On YouTube, a video purportedly showing oily rain in the Gulf region led to controversy.