Coverage of the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico edged out gloomy economic news and the mostly routine Elena Kagan confirmation hearings last week. But even as it regained the top spot after a one-week hiatus, there is evidence of diminishing media interest in the BP spill saga.
The argument over the Park 51 Islamic center continued in the blogosphere last week, but this time, mosque supporters dominated. Bloggers also reacted to a poll that more Americans believe Barack Obama is a Muslim. On Twitter, an article declaring "The Web is dead" was No. 1. And on YouTube, an obscene gesture drove a popular video.
With an election approaching, Czechs are unhappy with conditions in their country and frustrated with the way democracy is working, but are committed to free market economics and democratic values.
Despite a general consensus that women should have the same rights as men, people in many nations around the world say gender inequalities persist. Many say that men get more opportunities than equally qualified women for jobs that pay well and that life is generally better for men than it is for women in their countries.
America’s image is on balance positive in most of the nations surveyed, and overall there has been little change since last year. Looking at the 20 countries surveyed for which 2009 trends are available, positive views of the United States have become more common in six nations, less common in six, and have remained about […]
Summary of Findings As the public continues to closely track news about the environmental disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico, few Americans say news organization are giving the oil leak too much coverage. The Gulf oil leak once again topped both public interest and media coverage last week, though the percent following the story […]
Views of Iran remain negative across much of the world. Majorities or pluralities in 18 of 22 countries surveyed, including in many predominantly Muslim nations, express unfavorable opinions about the Islamic Republic. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad receives mixed reviews in Muslim countries. Majorities in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey lack confidence in Ahmadinejad to do […]
A natural disaster, a tragic accident and complaints about Obama’s handling of the media shared attention in a very mixed news week that is somewhat atypical for the blogosphere. On Twitter, stories about Google led a week along with news that the Library of Congress is archiving Tweets.
The travel delays and cancelled flights caused by the eruption of an Icelandic volcano dominated the conversation among bloggers last week. But an Iranian cleric’s claim that immodest women were to blame for earthquakes generated its fair share of attention. On Twitter, stories about Apple’s iPhone and iPad received the most links.