Economic News Eclipses Afghanistan and Health Care
The Project for Excellence in Journalism did not issue a News Index report this week, but the data is available.
The Project for Excellence in Journalism did not issue a News Index report this week, but the data is available.
The President’s long-awaited decision on how to wage war in Afghanistan was the No. 1 story last week, surpassing coverage of the two big domestic issues—the economy and health care. But a scandal-scorched athlete and some White House party crashers found their way into the top stories as well.
Coverage of health care was up last week, the economy was down and the war in Afghanistan remained about the same. But together, this trio continued their run atop the news agenda, a pattern we began to see settle in earlier this fall.
The economic crisis topped the news agenda last week as Wall Street pay packages triggered anger and action in Washington. Agreement on a runoff election also generated a spike in Afghanistan coverage, and hostilities between the White House and Fox News made the roster of top stories.
It was a war that often had trouble breaking into the headlines. But in recent months, with President Obama facing a crucial decision over whether to escalate U.S. involvement, coverage of Afghanistan increased noticeably. And last week, as the policy debate intensified, the story dominated finally the news.
Health care and the economy generated coverage last week, but the news agenda highlighted three geopolitical problems facing President Obama—negotiating with Iran, fighting in Afghanistan and trying to convince the IOC to bring the Olympics to the U.S.
The fight over health care legislation continued to dominate the news, but with a narrative twist that was tough on Barack Obama. And a crucial election kept the spotlight on Afghanistan, a conflict increasingly showing up in the headlines.
A dovish article by a conservative columnist triggered a heated blogger’s debate over Afghanistan last week while the major topics on Twitter were all related to technology. On YouTube, health care protests continue to make for popular viewing, though not quite as popular as a dancing school teacher.
Bloggers last week returned to two issues that generated interest in recent weeks. For the second time in a month, Afghanistan led the news in the blogosphere. And musician Dave Matthews sparked a second round of heated online debate with some comments about racism. On Twitter, for this week at least, the focus moved beyond Twitter itself.
A financial report card for U.S. banks returned the economic crisis to the top of the news agenda last week while the fighting in Pakistan and Afghanistan also became a major story.
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