{"id":90766,"date":"2007-01-31T00:00:01","date_gmt":"2007-01-31T05:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2007\/01\/31\/pej-talk-show-index-jan-21-26-2007\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T04:12:34","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T09:12:34","slug":"pej-talk-show-index-jan-21-26-2007","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2007\/01\/31\/pej-talk-show-index-jan-21-26-2007\/","title":{"rendered":"The Talk is All About Iraq, Clinton, and Bush"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n\n

In a week busy with a number of competing news stories, three subjects dominated the talk show universe, according to the PEJ Talk Show Index from January 21-January 26.<\/p>\n\n

The debate over Iraq policy, the 2008 presidential race, <\/span>and Bush\u2019s January 23 State of the Union speech <\/span>combined to fill nearly two-thirds of the air time on the cable and radio talk shows, continuing a pattern that has emerged in the first few weeks of the Index\u2014that of a handful of stories getting most of the space.<\/p>\n\n

In filling a distinctive niche, the talk shows seem to function as megaphone rather than as a reporter\u2019s notebook. Hosts tend not to develop their own stories, but to cherry pick hot topics from the news menu that they can amplify and magnify. Although the same three subjects that led the Talk Show Index also attracted the most news coverage last week, they dominated talk far more\u2014accounting for 63% of talk time versus 39% of the overall newshole. As has consistently been the case in recent weeks, the debate over Iraq strategy was the most discussed subject, filling 23% of the talk output.<\/p>\n\n

But the big trend has been the growing interest in the 2008 campaign, which recently saw the entrance of two Democratic stars\u2014Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Two weeks ago, the race to succeed Bush was nowhere to be found on the talk Index. It surged to 11% in last week\u2019s Index and has now doubled to 22%, very nearly overtaking the war debate.<\/p>\n\n

The President\u2019s speech accounted for somewhat less of the talkers\u2019 time, 18%.<\/p>\n\n

The Talk Show Index, which will be released every Friday, is designed to provide news consumers, journalists and researchers with hard data about what stories and topics are most frequently dissected and discussed in the media universe of talk and opinion\u2014a segment of the media that spans across both prime time cable and radio. (See About the Talk Show Index.)<\/span><\/a> PEJ\u2019s Talk Show Index includes seven prime time cable shows and five radio talk hosts and is a subset of our News Coverage Index<\/span><\/a>, which is released every Tuesday and measures the subjects covered in a week by 48 different outlets from five American media sectors.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

The fourth biggest talk show story in the Index was Scooter Libby\u2019s perjury trial, which at 4% lagged well behind the top stories. This outgrowth of the complex Valerie Plame case was a favorite of MSNBC hosts who openly wondered about the level of involvement on the part of Dick Cheney.<\/p>\n\n

The continuing interest of two oversized cable talk personalities (CNN\u2019s Lou Dobbs and the Fox News Channel\u2019s Bill O\u2019Reilly) was responsible for the fifth and sixth biggest talk stories\u2014the immigration debate, at 3%, and the kidnapped Missouri teens, at 3%. Neither of those stories made the top-10 list on the broader News Coverage Index for the week of January 21-26.<\/p>\n\n

T<\/span>wo weeks ago, the debate over Iraq strategy occurred almost solely on the cable shows, with radio hosts largely opting out. But last week, it raged on both platforms.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

One interesting bellwether was conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, who often hews to the official party line. On January 25, Limbaugh blasted a Senate committee resolution opposing the \u201csurge\u201d by noting that \u201cit happened the same day the same committee unanimously confirmed General Petraeus\u201d as top Iraq commander. (Some \u201csurge\u201d supporters are arguing that the much-admired Petraeus, not the unpopular Bush, is the real author of that strategy.) <\/span><\/p>\n\n

[someone else\u2019s]<\/p>\n\n\n

The talk show conversation about the 2008 presidential campaign last week, was virtually all-Hilary, all-the-time. (Senator John Kerry\u2019s decision not to reprise his 2004 run attracted a little attention.) Of the 29 talk segments studied by PEJ, the former First Lady, who announced her candidacy on January 20, was a main subject in at least 21. <\/span><\/p>\n\n

Conservative radio hosts Limbaugh, Hannity and Savage were eager to raise doubts about Clinton. But in what could perhaps be a reflection of ambivalence about her positions or of the dilemma of choosing between her and Barack Obama, liberal radio hosts were largely silent on her candidacy. (That includes the most left-leaning cable talker, MSNBC\u2019s Keith Olbermann.)<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Liberal talkers, however, particularly radio host Randi Rhodes, were willing to jump on the President\u2019s State of the Union speech, which was a much more popular topic on radio (about 76 minutes of discussion) than cable (only 33 minutes) last week. Rhodes and fellow liberal talker Ed Schultz, for example, combined for three straight days of speech preview and critique.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

No cable personality is more closely associated with a single issue than CNN\u2019s Dobbs, whose hard-line views on immigration are a leitmotif of his show. Last week, he was responsible for 11 out of 12 talk segments on the subject <\/span><\/p>\n\n

On his January 24 program\u2014after a segment about the Tennessee National Guard being honored for avoiding a confrontation with infiltrators at the Mexican border\u2014an incredulous Dobbs theatrically cocked his head and said: \u201cExcuse me? Who\u2019s giving them an award for withdrawing?\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n

The Fox News Channel\u2019s Bill O\u2019Reilly was the only host last week to continue to devote time to the two kidnapped teens. A week earlier, O\u2019Reilly ruffled feathers by appearing to take a <\/span>hard line on the boy who had spent about four years in captivity, claiming: \u201cThe Stockholm Syndrome thing, I don\u2019t buy it.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n

On his January 24 show, O\u2019Reilly revisited the issue and discussed a report\u2014one he acknowledged he couldn\u2019t confirm\u2014that the boy had helped his captor kidnap another teenager. O\u2019Reilly then reiterated his skepticism about \u201dStockholm Syndrome\u201d in a conversation with a guest who said the boy was more likely suffering from an \u201caccommodation syndrome.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Another subject that generated attention in the talk universe (seventh place at 2%) while failing to register on our broader Index of news coverage was the controversy over Jimmy Carter\u2019s new book, \u201cPalestine: Peace Not Apartheid.\u201d Some critics have accused Carter of being anti-Israeli and even anti-Semitic. And though a hoped-for debate between Carter and Alan Dershowitz did not materialize during Carter\u2019s January 23 appearance at Brandeis, MSNBC\u2019s Tucker Carlson did convene his own debate panel on January 26 to discuss whether Carter had damaged his legacy.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

[Carter]<\/p>\n\n\n

Mark Jurkowitz<\/span><\/em> of PEJ<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Top Ten Stories in the Talk Show Index <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

1. Iraq Policy Debate – 23% <\/address>\n\n
2. 2008 Campaign – 22%
<\/address>\n\n
3. Bush’s State of the Union Speech – 18%<\/address>\n\n
4. Libby Trial – 4% <\/address>\n\n
5. Immigration Debate – 3%<\/address>\n\n
6. Kidnapped Teens – 3%
<\/address>\n\n
7. Jimmy Carter Controversy – 2%
<\/address>\n\n
8. Iran – 2%<\/address>\n\n
9. Lebanon Protests – 2%<\/address>\n\n
10. Events in Iraq – 1% <\/address>\n\n\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

Top Ten Stories in the broader News Coverage Index <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

1. 2008 Campaign – 13% <\/address>\n\n
2. Iraq Policy Debate – 13%<\/address>\n\n
3. Bush’s State of the Union Speech – 13%
<\/address>\n\n
4. Events in Iraq – 9%<\/address>\n\n
5. Libby Trial – 3%<\/address>\n\n
6. Lebanon Protests – 2%<\/address>\n\n
7. Afghanistan – 2%<\/address>\n\n
8. Iran – 1%<\/address>\n\n
9. Ford Company Reports Record Loss – 1%<\/address>\n\n
10. Health Care Debate – 1%<\/address>\n\n

Click here<\/a> to read the methodology behind the Talk Show Index. <\/p>\n\n

\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

\u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The cable talkers didn’t have much to say about the State of the Union address, and the liberal hosts didn’t weigh in on Clinton’s presidential bid. But war and politics still managed to dominate the talk show agenda last week—even more so than the overall news coverage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sub_headline":"PEJ Talk Show Index Jan. 21 - 26, 2007","sub_title":"PEJ Talk Show Index Jan. 21 - 26, 2007","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_api_pending":"","apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_hidden":false,"relatedPosts":[],"reportMaterials":[],"multiSectionReport":[],"package_parts__enabled":false,"package_parts":[],"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[340],"tags":[],"bylines":[],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"level_of_effort":[],"primary_audience":[],"information_type":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[458],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[],"research-teams":[527],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-90766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-presidents-press","formats-report","research-teams-journalism"],"label":false,"post_parent":0,"word_count":1122,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2007\/01\/31\/pej-talk-show-index-jan-21-26-2007\/","art_direction":false,"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"report_materials":"","report_pagination":{"current_post":null,"next_post":null,"previous_post":null,"pagination_items":[]},"parent_info":{"parent_title":"The Talk is All About Iraq, Clinton, and Bush","parent_id":90766},"materialsOrdered":[],"chaptersOrdered":[],"partsOrdered":[],"partsEnabled":false,"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"The Talk is All About Iraq, Clinton, and Bush","description":"

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