Introduction December 9, 2005, marks the 100th anniversary of secularism in France, known as “laïcité.” In 1905 the French government passed a law stipulating “the separation of churches and the state,” thus enshrining secularism as a national principle. The law, which barred the state from officially recognizing, funding or endorsing religious groups, represented a major […]
Public opinion played a major role in the most important news stories of the year, from President Bush’s battle with an increasingly restive opposition, to the public’s mounting anxiety about the war in Iraq, to the sharp public rebuke of Congress for its intervention in the Terry Schiavo affair. Many of the strongest trends in […]
Introduction The Pew Internet Project has looked at how people use the internet in four major ways: to communicate, to gather information, to transact personal and professional business, and to entertain themselves. 1. Communications Men and women communicate online differently. In principle, internet users have high regard for the internet as a tool of communication; […]
A compendium of press criticism General Press Criticism “Covering New Orleans: The Decade Before the Storm” Byron Calame, The New York Times, September 11, 2005 “Hearings Tempest Downgraded to Tropical Storm” Howard Kurtz, The Washington Post, September 12, 2005 “Why Katrina Spawned no Media Stars” Jon Friedman, MarketWatch, September 12, 2005 “Why Levee Breaches in […]
SAMPLING AND INCLUSION The content analysis study of sports pages was part of a broader study that looked at both text-based media (including newspapers and Internet news sites) and electronic media (including broadcast network and cable network news). The complete study can be found at www.stateofthemedia.org. In all, the sports study examined 2,081 stories from […]
Although a right to personal privacy is not mentioned in the Constitution, most judges and legal scholars acknowledge that a measure of privacy is essential to the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. The exact extent of that privacy, however, is highly contested. Indeed, some of the most hotly debated high court decisions in U.S. […]
Opinion A big issue in journalism today is the level of subjectivity that creeps onto the page, the concern that the distinction between news and opinion has become increasingly hard to make. The front of the sports section seems to contribute to this blurring. The sports reportage here, the study found, is considerably more likely […]
Gender on the Page One of the most notable trends in sports over the past thirty years is the increasing prominence of women in sports at the amateur, collegiate and professional levels. In 1971, the year before Title IX was passed, there were fewer than 30,000 women competing in college sports. Today, there are nearly […]