News Habits & Media

In an industry that is constantly changing, how is radio faring? In what ways has technology affected how people get their news on the radio? Read the Audio Chapter of the State of the News Media 2009 for answers.

Summary of Findings The controversy over the millions of dollars in bonuses paid to AIG employees attracted considerable public interest last week. In fact, about as many people tracked that story very closely (50%) as followed news about the overall economy very closely (52%). The AIG controversy was the most closely followed story of the […]

Last week, the economic meltdown generated its highest weekly level of coverage since the crisis exploded last fall. And the majority of media attention was focused on a three-letter acronym that became a four-letter word.

In 2008, new media consumption patterns and a worsening economy battered an already flailing news industry. How are different media coping with declines in ad spending? This question and more are answered in PEJ’s new State of the News Media 2009 report.

Bloggers last week focused on reports and predictions involving major changes to some of the country’s prominent institutions. And their verdict was mixed on whether these potentially dramatic developments were heartening or ominous.

Summary of Findings After months of bleak economic news, an increasing proportion of Americans now say they are hearing a mix of good and bad economic news, while fewer say they are hearing mostly bad news. As has been the case for the last few months, very few say they are hearing mostly good news […]

The financial crisis dominated the news for the seventh week in a row as earmarks, bailouts, and talk of a second stimulus package helped fuel the narrative. And with Bernard Madoff heading to jail, greed and excess were recurring themes in the news.

Summary of Findings As many newspapers struggle to stay economically viable, fewer than half of Americans (43%) say that losing their local newspaper would hurt civic life in their community “a lot.” Even fewer (33%) say they would personally miss reading the local newspaper a lot if it were no longer available. Not unexpectedly, those […]

For the fourth week in a row, a different component of the faltering economy drove coverage of a crisis now overshadowing every other news event. And the White House and a radio host locked horns in what may actually be a symbiotic relationship.