News Habits & Media

The Fort Dix terror plot, the Attorney General’s Congressional appearance, French presidential elections, and the Iraq debate all seized top space in the universe of talk media last week. But what you heard, or whether you heard anything at all, depended on who was doing the talking.

Summary of Findings In the news last week, the Iraq war continued to dominate both coverage and interest. Fully 30% of the public followed news about the current situation in Iraq very closely and 24% listed this as the single news story they followed more closely than any other. Fully one-quarter of the public paid […]

It was a week of fires, storms and floods in the U.S. and a changing of the guard in some of this nation’s closest European allies. But even so, the news was dominated by a new twist on an old story. This time, part of the raging debate over what to do in Iraq was an intramural affair between Republicans.

Looking for a way to get out its message in Iraq, the U.S. Multi-National Force Iraq has turned to You Tube and has found some success with users who have made the site one of this month’s most popular. The site aims to use footage shot by military personnel to give a fuller picture of Iraq, a spokesman says. PEJ examines the effort.

With the news business in transition, fragmentation, and turmoil, many veteran journalists wonder about their careers. What about those preparing to first enter the field? The PEJ asked a group of journalism students about their hopes and fears—and their answers may surprise you.

The talk shows were not shy about picking winners and (especially) losers at last week’s Republican face-off in California. And while the sex scandal involving a D.C. escort service managed to divide the talk hosts along ideological lines, a former CIA director’s book tour actually achieved the rare feat of bringing them together.

Summary of Findings A story which received relatively little media coverage last week attracted a great deal of public interest. The recall of more than 100 brands of pet food due to possible contamination was the second most closely followed news story last week. Only the war in Iraq attracted more public interest. Nearly three-in-ten […]

A GOP debate, a Royal visit, Murdoch’s media move, and a Washington sex scandal all generated their fair share of news coverage last week. But it’s still the battle over Baghdad—with a cast of players that last week included George Tenet and Condoleezza Rice—that captured most of the media’s attention and energy.

The biggest news stories were also the most discussed topics on America’s cable and radio talk shows last week. But the talk hosts often bring their own angles to the main story lines—and that can often involve finding a scapegoat or villain. Plus Imus, Rosie and Alec Baldwin all get play, mostly on the cable airwaves.

Summary of Findings The debate over future Iraq war policy took center stage in Washington and in the national news last week. However, public interest in the story was modest at best as Americans expressed frustration with the quality of the debate and the clarity of the competing arguments. Only 18% of the public paid […]