For the Media, it’s the Elections, Stupid
The midterms were a quarter of the newshole last week, and have been the third most covered story of the year, behind only the economy and the Gulf oil spill.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
The midterms were a quarter of the newshole last week, and have been the third most covered story of the year, behind only the economy and the Gulf oil spill.
A University of Georgia survey of recent journalism and mass communication graduates finds toughest job market in the 24-year history of the study. Minority graduates have had an especially difficult time finding work. In regards to being prepared for communications work, graduates give their schools mixed grades.
The leak of some 90,000 classified war reports triggered a renewed debate over war strategy in Afghanistan. With court action in Arizona, the immigration debate dominated cable news.
Never before has so much information been available to so many people. But what role will media play in its dissemination? Can legacy media adapt so that legacy doesn’t come to mean extinct? A panel of experts discuss PEJ’s recently released “State of the News Media” report.
A bloody new chapter in the Israel/Palestinian conflict dramatically shifted the news agenda from domestic to foreign crises, dominating media attention in an otherwise crowded week of news.
As 2008 draws to a close, last week’s media’s attention was divided more than at any point this year. The economy and Barack Obama’s transition were still among the top stories. But scandals involving the Illinois Governor and a world-famous financial figure, along with the continuing struggles of the U.S. auto industry, also competed for coverage.
When the campaign was finally over, the media almost immediately viewed Barack Obama’s victory as a transformational event, and a subject that had been in some ways taboo moved front and center – race.
Although no other media stories came close to rivaling the economy’s troubles and the emerging face of the incoming administration, one other story drew sensational coverage: piracy on the high seas.
With desperate automakers asking Congress for $34 billion, Barack Obama unveiling key Cabinet members, and the U.S. scrambling to ease tensions between India and Pakistan, the three top storylines in the news intertwined last week.
The country’s weakened economy rivaled the presidential transition as top story of the week while much coverage focused on two women who ran losing campaigns for the executive branch.
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