Multi-section Reports

The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico proved to be a complex, technical and long-running saga that taxed the media’s resources and attention span. A new PEJ study highlights eight key points in the oil spill coverage. And a new quiz tests how much you know about media coverage of the disaster.

The fallout from the firing of Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod and the one-year anniversary of the controversial arrest of African American Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., have put race back in the news. How much coverage do African Americans receive? What role did race play in coverage of the Obama Administration? A new study examining media coverage of African Americans in the first year of the Obama presidency offers answers.

The drive for health care reform legislation proved to be the most passionate and polarizing policy fight of Barack Obama’s first year in office, with the public and Congress deeply divided over the initiative. And much of that battle played out through a changing media universe. A new PEJ study, examining 10 months of health care stories, identifies some of the key elements of that coverage.

The stories and issues that gain traction in social media differ substantially from those that lead in the mainstream press. But they also differ greatly from each other. Across a year-long study of blogs, Twitter and YouTube, the three platforms shared the same top story just once. What are the stories and issues that dominate in theses platforms? And what media outlets tend to provide those stories? A new year-long study by report offers answers.

The race for Ted Kennedy’s Massachusetts Senate seat began largely drama-free and little-covered and ended as the most surprising and intensely-covered political story in the country. Which candidate got the most favorable attention? How did coverage change over time? How did the local Boston papers differ in their reporting? A new study examines newspaper coverage of the race.

What do today’s newspaper and broadcast news executives think about the economics of their industry? Are they optimistic for the future? A new survey by the Project for Excellence in Journalism in association with the American Society of News Editors and the Radio Television Digital News Association offers answers.

An overwhelming majority of Americans get their news from multiple news platforms. Which media sectors do people in the U.S rely on most? How has the internet and mobile technology changed the way people consume news? A joint PEJ-Pew Internet survey examines how internet and cell phone users have transformed news into a social experience.

A new PEJ study investigates where news comes from in today’s rapidly changing media landscape. An examination of local media in Baltimore provides insight on how the U.S. media ecosystem works. What role do new media, blogs and specialty news sites play in the news cycle? Who is breaking news? Which reports advanced the story? The study answers these questions and more.

Hispanics are already the largest minority group in the United States, 16% of the population,—and that percentage is expected to nearly double by the middle of this century. How is this growing population portrayed in the American news media? A new study produced jointly by PEJ and the Pew Hispanic Center looks at coverage of Hispanics over six months of 2009.

The economic downturn has made headlines for months. How has the press covered the gravest financial crisis since the Great Depression? What elements of the economic story make the most news? Who is driving the coverage? PEJ addresses these questions and more in a new report on press coverage of the economy.