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News Media Trends

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    Interest in bin Laden Now Tops News Coverage

    Overview Public interest in the killing of Osama bin Laden has declined since the week U.S. forces raided his compound in Pakistan. But news coverage of bin Laden’s death has fallen more precipitously. About a third of the public (32%) says they followed this news more closely than any other story last week, down from […]

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    Death of bin Laden: More Coverage than Interest

    Overview While the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan by U.S. military forces attracted a near-record amount of news coverage, public interest in the story has been comparatively modest. Just more than four-in-ten (42%) say they followed news about the Al Qaeda leader’s  killing more closely than any other news last week. One-in-five (20%) […]

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    Navigating News Online

    The future of the journalism relies heavily on understanding the ways people consume news online. But mastering that information is challenging. Behavior is changing quickly, and the metrics can be elusive and even contradictory. In a new study, PEJ examines Nielsen data from the top 25 most popular news sites to offer insights about how people get to news sites; what they do once there and where they go when they leave.

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    How the Media Have Covered bin Laden’s Death

    Contrary to what happens with most major national news events, the discussion of the death of Osama bin Laden in the mainstream and new media has not shifted quickly to political winners and losers. An analysis of hundreds of thousands of stories and millions of social media postings finds the discussion has remained focused on the facts of what happened. A new PEJ study has the details.

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    Too Much Coverage: Birth Certificate, Royal Wedding

    Summary of Findings Majorities of Americans say news organizations focused too much last week on both the royal wedding in England and the release of the long-form version of Barack Obama’s birth certificate. Nearly two-thirds (64%) say the press gave too much coverage to the April 29 wedding in London of Prince William and Kate […]

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    California Politics (and Strangeness) Catch the Eye of Bloggers

    Several local issues in California generated attention in the blogosphere last week, two of them involving allegations of political skullduggery. On Twitter, some bloggers fretted about questions concerning Apple and privacy. And on YouTube, a world leader was caught in the act of petty theft.

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    Modest Interest in Run-Up to Royal Wedding

    Summary of Findings The public has expressed modest interest in the run-up to the royal wedding. And while news coverage of the royal wedding is now ramping up, nearly two-thirds of the public (64%) say they think it has gotten too much coverage. Just 8% say they followed news about the upcoming wedding of England’s […]

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    About the News Interest Index

    The News Interest Index is a weekly survey conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press aimed at gauging the public’s interest in and reaction to major news events. This project has been undertaken in conjunction with the Project for Excellence in Journalism’s News Coverage Index, an ongoing content analysis of […]

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    Trump Most Visible Among Possible GOP Contenders

    Summary of Findings Donald Trump has drawn a lot of attention in a slow-starting race for the GOP nomination. Roughly a quarter of all Americans (26%) name Trump as the possible Republican presidential candidate they have heard most about lately, far more than volunteer any other candidate. Among Republicans, 39% name Trump as most visible […]