Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Last week, for the first time this year, an event other than the race for president was the No. 1 story. The crisis with Russia was the top story and campaign theme in a week when Barack Obama got more coverage, but John McCain may have gotten the better of it.
The story of the troubled U.S. economy has proven a hard one for journalists to tell. How have the media covered the slump? How timely was the reporting? Did the media influence public attitudes?
One week after sharing headlines equally with John McCain, Barack Obama again dominated the news last week. And even as McCain and Obama sparred over energy, the old question of what do the Clintons want generated major coverage.
After accusations of pro-Obama bias and a run of media soul searching, and helped by a heavy dose of controversial attack advertising from his campaign team, Republican nominee John McCain finally forced Barack Obama to share the headlines last week.
Barack Obama’s week-long tour of world hotspots and capitals generated more coverage than any campaign event in months. But in the end, the media wondered what he had accomplished and whether they were paying too much attention.
Newspapers are suffering historic cuts in staffing and drops in revenue, while technological advances are creating new opportunities. What is disappearing from newspapers and what is being added?
The week began with a controversial magazine cover. By week’s end, an anticipation of an overseas Obama trip dominated campaign coverage and brought Iraq back into frame.
Two men who are non-candidates for president drove the media story lines in the campaign last week. Jesse Jackson’s brutal remarks about Barack Obama may have helped the Democrats. Phil Gramm’s about the recession being largely mental did not help his friend John McCain.