Journalism

In another week with a mixed news agenda, the media provided some cautiously optimistic assessments of the troubled economy and offered some strikingly different treatment of the tax day tea party protests.

The online community was focused on two subjects that received little attention in the mainstream press last week—the debate over gay marriage and the death of a man at the G20 Summit.

Coverage of the financial meltdown dropped to its lowest level in months last week as Somali pirates, a trip to Turkey, a deadly earthquake and a defiant missile launch dominated the news agenda. Is it a trend or an anomaly?

Bloggers and social media eschewed the economic crisis and European summitry last week to focus on a group of diverse topics ranging from journalism to political activism to environmentalism. Meanwhile the week’s most viewed YouTube video featured a trick shot from a basketball superstar.

Yes, Michelle Obama set some hearts a flutter and generated some headlines when she laid hands on the Queen last week. But most of the coverage of the President’s overseas trip focused on the same challenge he faces at home.

The economic crisis again dominated blogs and social media last week, as the conversation expanded from AIG to several different elements of the financial meltdown. And the most viewed video was an overseas variation on the same theme.

Another aspect of the financial crisis took center stage last week as the storyline moved from the AIG bonuses to Tim Geithner’s plan for “toxic assets” in the financial sector. The verdict is far from final, but Geithner seemed to at least stem a recent run of negative news.