Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Topline PEJ News Coverage Index December 31, 2006 – March 31, 2007 Percent of Newshole for Major Stories Story All Media Cable TV Network Evening w/ PBS Network Morning Newspapers Online Talk Radio News Radio Iraq War Total (3 threads) 22% 23% 33% 18% 18% 23% 22% 22% Iraq Policy Debate 12 16 16 […]
The debates over immigration policy and Iraq war strategy were the most popular topics on cable and radio talk shows last week. The 2008 presidential race also attracted lots of attention, again. But two nasty political tiffs got on the talkers’ radar screen as well.
There was a grim milestone for U.S. troops in Iraq and one potential GOP presidential hopeful moved closer to making it official. But the biggest news last week was an international medical mystery with more plot twists than a novel and potentially serious implications for the nation’s security in an era of daunting man-made and natural threats.
If there was any major story in the first quarter of the year that revealed an apparent disconnect between news consumers and news producers, it was the investigation into the firing of eight U.S. attorneys that put Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’s future in jeopardy. Overall, that subject proved to be the fourth biggest story of […]
U.S. tensions with Teheran have been bubbling for some time now, but it took a conflict with another country to put Iran atop the media map. In the same week, the news didn’t get any better for Attorney Gonzales and the Iraq debate was marked by a crucial Senate vote.
The now-resolved hostage crisis with Iran attracted the most media coverage last week while the investigation into the fired U.S. attorneys went on temporary hiatus. But even with the voting 19 months away, the 2008 race for the White House continues to fascinate the press, the second story only behind the debate over the war in Iraq.
The talk shows were not shy about picking winners and (especially) losers at last week’s Republican face-off in California. And while the sex scandal involving a D.C. escort service managed to divide the talk hosts along ideological lines, a former CIA director’s book tour actually achieved the rare feat of bringing them together.
The Iranian hostage situation and the argument over Iraq policy were hot topics on the cable and radio talk shows last week. But in some ways, the U.S. Speaker of the House’s decision to talk to the President of Syria shed even more light on how the talk universe really works.