Romney & Obama Eye November
The Project for Excellence in Journalism did not publish a news index report this week. However, the data is available.
All
Publications
The Project for Excellence in Journalism did not publish a news index report this week. However, the data is available.
The economy remained the No. 1 story for the ninth consecutive week while the 2012 presidential race continued its recent spike in coverage last week. And dramatic developments regarding Syria and Libya drove Mideast coverage to its highest level in nearly three months.
The stalemate over deficit reduction and the entry of another candidate into the crowded 2012 presidential race made the economy and election the two leading stories last week. Meanwhile media attention to Afghanistan fell dramatically, highlighting the episodic and uneven coverage of that decade-old conflict.
The fighting in the Mideast, and especially Libya, topped the news last week, narrowly ahead of the U.S. economy. But perhaps the most interesting development was the emergence of the presidential campaign as a major story—thanks in large part to one controversial candidate-in-waiting.
For a second week in a row, the media focused on the economy and away from foreign affairs. Last week, driven by a Presidential speech, the government shutdown was replaced with a larger debate about national fiscal priorities. Lurking in the background was the 2012 presidential race, a story that gave tycoon and Obama birth certificate skeptic Donald Trump a platform of his own.
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.
Conservative bloggers last week expressed outrage over a passage from Bob Woodward’s new book. Tweeters were galvanized by a security flaw on Twitter. And YouTube viewers were interested in some provocative statements a GOP Senate candidate made on television more than a decade ago.
Election-year politics and a noteworthy poll made up the hottest story in the blogosphere last week. Meanwhile on Twitter, a technology topic involving oft-scrutinized Apple topped the news agenda. And on YouTube, the most popular subject by far was Paul the octopus, the world-class World Cup handicapper.
Copyright 2024 Pew Research Center