Economy Again Tops the News
The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism did not publishing a full Weekly News Index report for November 22-28, 2010. PEJ is, however, making the data available.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism did not publishing a full Weekly News Index report for November 22-28, 2010. PEJ is, however, making the data available.
The state of the troubled U.S. economy, the old reliable of news stories, was the biggest topic in the news last week. But the media also focused on some new TSA screening techniques that seemed to poke and provoke some travelers. And continued coverage of the midterms focused on new power players in Washington.
News of scientists’ plans to more actively warn of global warming dangers generated a big response from bloggers last week. And on YouTube, the continuing Philip DeFranco phenomenon illustrates the online platform’s power to turn regular folks into video stars.
Three stories topped the news last week—the economy, the aftermath of the 2010 midterms and the president’s trip to Asia—and all three involved narratives that were not positive for President Obama. The week’s other top stories included a cruise gone awry and a former president resurfacing on the media circuit to pitch his new book.
A backlash against columnist David Broder’s suggestions for Obama united bloggers last week while and Comedy Central’s Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear got mixed reviews.
No other event or story generated much attention as the battle for Congress was finally resolved, accounting for more than half of last week’s coverage. Once the voters had spoken, the media pivoted from polls and predictions to post-mortems and projections about the new political landscape. And not surprisingly, President Obama was at the center of the narrative.
Attention to the crucial midterm congressional elections reached new heights last week, accounting for nearly half the overall news coverage. The top stories also included the economy, a new terror plot, the conflict in Afghanistan and fresh revelations about the BP oil disaster that dominated coverage in the summer.
The online rhetoric heated up last week as bloggers from the left and right responded to statements from two controversial GOP figures. On Twitter, users marveled over an unorthodox space launch while on YouTube, the subject of UFOs was front and center.
Thanks to polls, prognosticators and personal attacks, the congressional election cycle galvanized the news media last week. The economy finished as the No. 2 story, with the foreclosure crisis once again driving the narrative. And a noteworthy news industry firing, that of NPR’s Juan Williams, triggered an impassioned journalistic and political debate.