If the signature nightly newscasts were reticent about Smith, their morning show cousins took up the slack, giving over 15% of their first half hour of programming to the story. Network Morning News Percent of Newshole Devoted to Top 5 Stories Feb 9 – March 2, 2007 Story % Anna Nicole Smith 15 Campaign 2008 […]
A GOP debate, a Royal visit, Murdoch’s media move, and a Washington sex scandal all generated their fair share of news coverage last week. But it’s still the battle over Baghdad—with a cast of players that last week included George Tenet and Condoleezza Rice—that captured most of the media’s attention and energy.
The biggest news stories were also the most discussed topics on America’s cable and radio talk shows last week. But the talk hosts often bring their own angles to the main story lines—and that can often involve finding a scapegoat or villain. Plus Imus, Rosie and Alec Baldwin all get play, mostly on the cable airwaves.
Two major news stories, the fired U.S. attorneys story and the argument over Iraq policy, dominated the airwaves on cable and radio talk shows last week. But a look at how the talkhosts operate suggests that it can be passion and personality, rather than the issue itself that often drives the discussion.
Summary of Findings The public and the news media divided their attention last week among the top international stories, harsh winter weather, politics and the ongoing saga surrounding the death of Anna Nicole Smith. The Iraq war remained the No. 1 story both in terms of public interest and news coverage, however, the public hung […]
On her February 16 CNN show, Paula Zahn called the Smith case “America’s newest guilty pleasure” and accused the public of being less than candid about its level of interest. Brandishing a CNN online poll showing that 71% of the respondents said they were not interested in the Smith situation, Zahn responded: “Don’t bother denying […]
Even in a week with North Korea, Iran, Anna Nicole, and Hillary on the front burner, it’s U.S. strategy in the Iraq war that commands the talk airwaves. And the dominance of that debate reveals something about the nature of the talk show culture.
Summary of Findings Public support for the war in Iraq continues to decline, as a growing number of political independents are turning against the war. Overall, a 53% majority of Americans believe the U.S. should bring its troops home as soon as possible – up five points in the past month and the highest percentage […]