Twitter Responds to Japan’s Disaster
The response to the earthquake illustrated the different ways in which Twitter functions as a social media tool. Initially, the site served as a way to get breaking information from a variety of official and unofficial sources, including eyewitness accounts. It also acted as an electronic bulletin board. And once the scope of the catastrophe became apparent, Twitter became a place to raise funds for the recovery effort and express concern for the victims.
A Dramatic Week Ends in Disaster
The devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan late in the week overwhelmed earlier coverage of the Libyan civil war, passage of anti-collective bargaining legislation in Wisconsin and hearings on radical Islam.
State of the News Media 2011
By several measures, the state of the American news media improved in 2010. After two dreadful years, most sectors of the industry saw revenue begin to recover. The biggest issue ahead, however, may not be lack of audience or even lack of new revenue experiments. It may be that in the digital realm the news industry is no longer in control of its own future.
Blogs Debate Budget Cuts
Continuing a recent trend, blogs focused on hot-button domestic issues rather than Middle East turmoil, which has held the mainstream media’s interest.
As Gaddafi Clings to Power, Media Keep Focus on Middle East
For the fifth time in the past six weeks, the situation in the Middle East was the No. 1 story in the mainstream media.
Blogs Debate Wisconsin, Unions
On blogs, a passionate debate — clearly split along ideological lines — raged over the role of unions in American politics and economics.
Media Attention Turns To Libya
The news devoted to the Middle East in the past five weeks easily exceeds any month of coverage of the Iraq war since January 2007.
Blogs in Sync with Mainstream Media on Budget, Egypt
Social and mainstream media were in sync last week as bloggers focused on two primary topics — the U.S. budget and Middle East unrest.
Budget Battles Lead the News
Debate over Obama’s budget and the protests in Wisconsin drove coverage of economic issues to the top of the media agenda.
Blogs, Twitter Decry Patriot Act
Reauthorization of the Patriot Act led the conversation on both blogs and Twitter last week. And voices from both ends of the political spectrum were actually in agreement.
