Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

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Journalism

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    A Media Mystery

    The 30,000 employees of Private Security Companies currently operating inside Iraq represent a new element in modern-day warfare. They are armed, suffer casualties, are paid by the U.S. government, and perform tasks once done by the nation’s military. But a new study by PEJ reveals that for the most part, these forces have operated below the media radar.

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    Talk Shows React to Immigration Redux

    The impassioned debate on the talk airwaves wouldn’t go away last week as the once-imperiled immigration bill appeared to get a new life. And that had some conservative hosts putting former GOP allies on their enemies list. The talkers were also more interested in HBO’s gang wars than the Hamas-Fatah battles.

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    New Twist in Immigration Fight is Big News

    It took Presidential intervention, but the changing fortunes of the controversial immigration reform legislation was the leading story last week. Still, U.S. domestic politics were almost overshadowed violence in the Mideast. And why did the ending of a cable series make the nightly news?

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    Did Talk Hosts Help Derail the Immigration Bill?

    The race for the White House was the most popular talk show story last week and Paris Hilton’s unscheduled release from jail was also a hot topic. But the big news may have been the Senate’s failure to pass an immigration measure, an event that seemed like a victory for a number of talk hosts.

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    A Spiritual Network Grows On The Net

    There have been a few twists and turns in the eight-year history of Beliefnet.com, the faith-oriented web site. But the outlet, which recently captured a major National Magazine Award, has reinvented itself by trying to turn a potentially polarizing subject into an all-inclusive gathering place.

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    Paris Has the Media Burning

    The biggest stories last week were driven by Republican and Democratic presidential debates, the apparent defeat of the compromise immigration bill, and an increasing war of words between the United States and Russia. But the tale of one celebrity’s interrupted incarceration generated a lot of late-week coverage.

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    Talk Hosts Opt For Politics Over The ‘TB Traveler’

    The cable and radio talk shows were buzzing about Hillary Clinton, Fred Thompson, and even Michelle Obama last week. And they were still on the offensive on the new immigration bill. But for all its many angles, the saga of the young tuberculosis-infected lawyer attracted only tepid interest.

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    The Infamous ‘TB Traveler’ is the Top Story

    There was a grim milestone for U.S. troops in Iraq and one potential GOP presidential hopeful moved closer to making it official. But the biggest news last week was an international medical mystery with more plot twists than a novel and potentially serious implications for the nation’s security in an era of daunting man-made and natural threats.

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    Down For The Count

    For years, magazine watchers relied on monthly advertising reports known as "PIBs" to gauge the health of the industry. Recently, the "PIBs" were cut back from 12 a year to only four. A magazine trade organization says that’s an attempt to provide more meaningful data, but analysts suggest it’s also a reflection of tough economic times.

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    Talk Hosts Score the Big Fights

    The debates over immigration policy and Iraq war strategy were the most popular topics on cable and radio talk shows last week. The 2008 presidential race also attracted lots of attention, again. But two nasty political tiffs got on the talkers’ radar screen as well.