A judge’s decision to overturn California’s ban on same-sex marriage became a reason to celebrate for many bloggers last week. Others rallied behind the website WikiLeaks, following its release of secret information about the war in Afghanistan. On Twitter, the decision by 40 wealthy Americans to donate money to charity drew the most attention. And on YouTube, an Alabama crime stopper became a web sensation.
The media scrambled last week as authorities arrested a suspect in the Times Square terror case, the Gulf oil spill grew more ominous, Wall Street went briefly into free fall and floods took a deadly toll in Tennessee. All of which left little room for coverage of a crucial overseas election.
Declines in news audience, revenue, reporting – and a grim picture for economic models for online news. From PEJ’s annual State of the News Media report.
Amid good news on jobs, storms in the Northeast and the arrest of a radical Christian militia, the news agenda was more unusually diverse last week with eight different stories gaining substantial attention.
For the third straight week, the Obama Administration’s renewed efforts to pass a health care bill topped the news agenda while the U.S. economy followed in the No. 2 slot. Ex-Congressman Eric Massa’s weird cable TV tour also generated attention. And troubled Toyota found itself in the news again, albeit this time with somewhat more sympathetic coverage.
TOPIC
FORMAT
AUTHOR
RESEARCH AREA
Copyright 2024 Pew Research Center