Last week the economy—or one nuanced element of it—led bloggers’ conversation. And the No. 2 topic was a famous athlete’s domestic situation. Meanwhile news (and rumors) about the iPad topped a tech-heavy news agenda on Twitter.
Overview The internet is slowly closing in on television as Americans’ main source of national and international news. Currently, 41% say they get most of their news about national and international news from the internet, which is little changed over the past two years but up 17 points since 2007. Television remains the most widely […]
The first big East Coast snowstorm of the winter season beat out the economy and domestic terrorism as the top story last week, according to a special web news edition of PEJ’s weekly News Coverage Index. And defeated Delaware Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell, a magnet for media coverage during the 2010 campaign, returned to the spotlight, but not on the most flattering of terms.
Summary of Findings The 9/11 terrorist attacks drew more public interest than any other story in the past decade. In October 2001, a month after the attacks, 78% said they were following news about the story very closely, up slightly from the week after the attacks (74%). The devastating hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast […]
For the third time this month, bloggers remained wrapped up in the WikiLeaks affair and U.S. government response. Bloggers also cheered the end the of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. On Twitter, news media predictions for 2011 garnered the most attention. And a shocking event caught live on video drew the most views on YouTube.
More than a quarter of American adults - 26% - used their cell phones to learn about or participate in the 2010 mid-term election campaign.
Summary of Findings Two major disasters – the earthquake in Haiti and the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico – captured the public’s attention more than any other major stories in 2010, but Americans also kept a consistent eye on the nation’s struggling economy. In mid-January, 60% of the public said they were following […]
The economy topped the news for the sixth straight week, while a string of tragedies—the death of a top diplomat, the suicide of Bernie Madoff’s son, and the suicide of an unstable Florida gunman—also made headlines. And health care, after months of absence, returned to the news in a significant way.
The agreement on tax cuts between President Obama and GOP leaders led to a complex online conversation which revealed deep tensions within one party. The WikiLeaks controversy, a hot topic for the second week in a row, drew a more unified response. And on YouTube, a tragic stunt on live German television drew worldwide attention.
Interest in WikiLeaks Down
A survey of U.S.-based journalists finds 77% would choose their career all over again, though 57% are highly concerned about future restrictions on press freedom.
Digital news has become an important part of Americans’ news media diets, with social media playing a crucial role in news consumption.
In recent years, several new options have emerged in the social media universe, many of which explicitly present themselves as alternatives to more established social media platforms.
The total number of journalists assigned to state capitol buildings is up 11% since 2014, though figures vary widely by state.
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About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts.
