Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Summary of Findings A series of major breaking stories captured the attention of both the public and the media in 2010, while news about the nation’s struggling economy consistently attracted high levels of public interest and coverage throughout the year. Each week, the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press conducts national public […]
Note on survey dates The primary adult data in this report come from a Pew Internet Project survey conducted from April 29 to May 30, 2010. The most current teen data reported here is from a separate Pew Internet survey of teens and their parents conducted from June 26 to September 24, 2009. Data points […]
Summary of Findings Two major disasters – the earthquake in Haiti and the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico – captured the public’s attention more than any other major stories in 2010, but Americans also kept a consistent eye on the nation’s struggling economy. In mid-January, 60% of the public said they were following […]
Last week the economy—or one nuanced element of it—led bloggers’ conversation. And the No. 2 topic was a famous athlete’s domestic situation. Meanwhile news (and rumors) about the iPad topped a tech-heavy news agenda on Twitter.
In the blogosphere, there was an even more mixed verdict. To study blogs, PEJ used technology from Crimson Hexagon, which identifies statistical patterns in the words used to express opinions on different topics. PEJ used Crimson Hexagon to analyze blog posts on November 2nd and 3rd, 2010 for seven themes relating to the coverage on […]
The state of the troubled U.S. economy, the old reliable of news stories, was the biggest topic in the news last week. But the media also focused on some new TSA screening techniques that seemed to poke and provoke some travelers. And continued coverage of the midterms focused on new power players in Washington.
Embryonic stem cell research has become a hot topic in the courts and in campaigns in several states, including Florida, Wisconsin and Iowa. On Sept. 28, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., said federally funded stem cell research projects could continue while the appeals court reviews an Aug. 23 […]
Three stories topped the news last week—the economy, the aftermath of the 2010 midterms and the president’s trip to Asia—and all three involved narratives that were not positive for President Obama. The week’s other top stories included a cruise gone awry and a former president resurfacing on the media circuit to pitch his new book.