Journalism

The Project for Excellence in Journalism did not publish a news index report this week. However, the data is available here.

In the days before Iowans finally caucused, the news media were most focused on the shifting horse race that foreshadowed Rick Santorum’s strong late showing, according to a PEJ analysis of the leading themes in the Iowa press narrative.

On blogs, PolitiFact’s decision to call out Democrats for lying about GOP plans for Medicare led to a heated political argument. And on YouTube, viewers were fascinated by the public outpouring from North Korean citizens following the death of Kim Jong Il.

Attention to the Republican nomination fight increased last week with Iowa looming and Gingrich and Romney locked in campaign combat.

One GOP candidate has not only soared in the polls recently, he’s become the focal point of news coverage as well. A presidential speech drove coverage of the week’s No. 2 story, the economy.