Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Cain’s difficulties in the press had been building for nearly a month, but last week was different for two reasons. The percentage of positive assertions about his candidacy fell. Perhaps just as important, the volume of coverage about him was enormous. Just as important, Cain was overwhelmingly the central figure in that coverage last week. […]
A news week that began with the campaign ended with the death of Muammar Gaddafi.
The biggest religion stories of 2011 involved tensions over Islam and questions about faith in presidential politics, especially Mormonism, according to an annual review of religion in the news.
The long-awaited debt ceiling deal in Washington triggered a torrent of overwhelmingly negative economic coverage that easily proved to be the dominant story of the week. And two major newsmakers earlier in the year, al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifffords, re-emerged in the headlines last week.
The Long-shot Duo Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum share some basic similarities in their treatment by the media. Each of these men generated relatively little news coverage between May and October, ranking No. 7 and 9 respectively among Republicans in that category. And the tone of each of their […]
To a large degree, Mitt Romney’s coverage in the news media reflected a simple narrative: He does not inspire tremendous passion or excitement with Republican voters but he has always been considered viable. That narrative has been sizable in quantity, consistent over time, and evenly divided. Overall, Romney was the second most-covered candidate. And the […]
Tensions drove Occupy Wall Street coverage to its biggest week so far and an interview with Jerry Sandusky ushered in a second week of major coverage of Penn State’s sexual abuse scandal.
President Obama’s deficit reduction plan set off a partisan skirmish that generated major headlines last week. The second biggest story, the presidential campaign, was marked by a shaky debate performance by GOP frontrunner Rick Perry. And the latest chapter in the intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict registered as the No. 3 topic.
While Barack Obama may not have been formally campaigning for re-election, he was by far the leading newsmaker in the past five months. And the coverage of him during that period has been unrelentingly negative, worse than any of his potential Republican foes. He fared better, but only slightly, in the blogosphere. Several factors were […]
Though the economy topped the mainstream news agenda, Obama’s troop drawdown announcement gave Afghanistan its biggest week of coverage in a year. And while mainstay subjects—the campaign and the Mid-East—continued to make news, the surprise arrest of one of the FBI’s most wanted dominated the end of the week.