Search results for: “Pakistan”

The economy topped the news for the sixth straight week, while a string of tragedies—the death of a top diplomat, the suicide of Bernie Madoff’s son, and the suicide of an unstable Florida gunman—also made headlines. And health care, after months of absence, returned to the news in a significant way.

As the campaign for control of Congress entered its final month, election news once again dominated the headlines—overshadowing almost everything else. Some housing news drove coverage of the economy while President Obama’s suggestion to lengthen the school year helped make education one of the week’s top stories. 

The argument over the Park 51 Islamic center continued in the blogosphere last week, but this time, mosque supporters dominated. Bloggers also reacted to a poll that more Americans believe Barack Obama is a Muslim. On Twitter, an article declaring "The Web is dead" was No. 1. And on YouTube, an obscene gesture drove a popular video.

Damage control in Washington overtook damage control in the Gulf of Mexico as the BP oil spill generated its biggest week of media coverage since the April 20 rig explosion that triggered the disaster. The narrative was driven, in large part, by a president who spoke to the nation and an oil executive who took a pounding from Congress.

With the oil still gushing, BP making new efforts to stanch the spill and the Obama Administration taking a more aggressive line toward the energy company, the crisis in the Gulf of Mexico accounted for a third of last week’s news coverage. No other story came close although a deadly encounter on a boat headed for the Gaza Strip finished as the No. 2 subject.