Sotomayor, and Race, Drive the News
Sotomayor was the first person to exceed Obama as the lead newsmaker since his inauguration; 40% of the stories about Sotomayor’s nomination referenced her ethnicity.
California, Rappers and Fossils
The conversation online looks nothing like the mainstream media.
Global Pandemic, Global Coverage
Turns out that coverage of the swine flu in the U.S. was actually less sensationalized than was media coverage in some other major nations.
Beltway Battle Bumps Economy
With a political-conflict narrative, terrorism — almost untouched by the media last year — has supplanted the recession as the top story.
Tortured Debate Online
The polarizing issue of what defines torture again dominated social media last week but bloggers also focused on a Saudi judge’s slap at women shoppers.
Politics Punctuate the Terrorism Debate
The story was especially dominant on the ideological, debate-oriented talk shows on radio and prime-time cable.
Wide-Ranging Conversation Online
While the mainstream media agenda was dominated by the economy and flu, bloggers talked up gay marriage, e-readers and botched photo-op.
Feed an Economy, Starve a Flu
With the virus no longer so deadly, the press turned to financial and foreign-policy fears.
Pig Flu and Politics Clog the Blogs
Bloggers last week debated whether the worldwide swine flu outbreak was a serious public health menace or a case of excessive media hype. And Arlen Specter’s change of parties stirred a partisan debate over the state of the GOP.
Big Stories Fall to Flu Fever
Obama’s 100th day, a political earthquake, a Supreme Court retirement and more bad news for Detroit should have all been major media events, but none withstood the onslaught of swine flu.
