News Media Trends

A natural disaster, a tragic accident and complaints about Obama’s handling of the media shared attention in a very mixed news week that is somewhat atypical for the blogosphere. On Twitter, stories about Google led a week along with news that the Library of Congress is archiving Tweets.

The race for Ted Kennedy’s Massachusetts Senate seat began largely drama-free and little-covered and ended as the most surprising and intensely-covered political story in the country. Which candidate got the most favorable attention? How did coverage change over time? How did the local Boston papers differ in their reporting? A new study examines newspaper coverage of the race.

The U.S. economy topped the news agenda in a week that included a major summit in Washington D.C. an eruption that wreaked havoc with global travel and a series of Tea Party protests. Meanwhile, coverage of the once raging health care issue has tapered off dramatically since the legislation was signed into law.

Groups of bloggers amassed to decry two separate controversies last week: reported rule changes to the board game Scrabble and the declaration that April would be Confederate History Month in Virginia. On YouTube, politics were unusually popular, with three separate congressional videos leading the list. And Twitterers remained fascinated with the iPad.

Summary of Findings Americans continued to track news about the new health care law more closely than any other major story last week, though the media devoted the most attention to the deadly explosion in a West Virginia coal mine—and just 3% of coverage to health care reform. A third of the public (33%) says […]

A tragic mine explosion in West Virginia led the news last week, with about twice the amount of coverage given to the next biggest story: the still-ailing U.S. economy.

Stories about the 2010 Census account for a growing -- albeit small -- fraction of U.S. news coverage, according to statistics compiled by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.

What do today’s newspaper and broadcast news executives think about the economics of their industry? Are they optimistic for the future? A new survey by the Project for Excellence in Journalism in association with the American Society of News Editors and the Radio Television Digital News Association offers answers.

For the third time in a row, health care reform was the top subject in the blogosphere last week, followed by another common online topic: global warming. On Twitter, developments with the world's largest energy particle accelerator topped the list. And on YouTube, an awkward moment in Haiti featuring two former presidents attracted more than 3 million views.

Summary of Findings Americans say they tracked news about the newly enacted health care reform law more closely than other major news stories last week, though the health care debate did not dominate coverage as it had during the final votes in Congress late last month. Close to half the public (48%) followed news about […]