Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Barack Obama’s official transition to power swamped the news last week. And even that may understate the extent to which he commandeered the agenda, with an early edict on Gitmo and a full-court press on a stimulus package.
The economic crisis showed few signs of easing, a scandal-plagued governor tried to anoint a Senator, and the incoming President moved to Washington. But last week, the guns of the Middle East dominated the news agenda.
Barack Obama made headlines with some major appointments last week. But the bigger story was the deepening crises the new administration will face—a cratering economy domestically and a set of global challenges highlighted by the Mumbai terror attack.
Religion played a much more significant role in the media coverage of President-elect Barack Obama than it did in the press treatment of Republican nominee John McCain during the 2008 presidential campaign, but much of the coverage related to false yet persistent rumors that Obama is a Muslim. Meanwhile, there was little attempt by the […]
Some of the nation’s leading journalists gathered in Key West, Fla., in December, 2008, for the Pew Forum’s biannual Faith Angle Conference on religion, politics and public life. Vali Nasr, author of the 2006 book, The Shia Revival, surveyed the geo-political landscape of today’s Middle East, arguing that the 2003 invasion of Iraq has fundamentally […]
As 2008 drew to a close, the media’s attention was more divided than any point all year. The economy and Obama’s transition were still top stories. But two scandals and the U.S. auto industry also competed for coverage.