Two stories that have become fixtures in the headlines—the deadlocked debt debate and the intensifying News of the World phone hacking scandal—accounted for more than half of last week’s newshole, relegating other significant events to secondary status in the media.
Not since March 2009 have so many Americans been hearing mostly bad news about the nation's economy. Romney and Palin have become the most visible GOP presidential candidates.
The debt ceiling, rising unemployment and continued housing woes made the economy the week's No. 1 story, but the 2012 campaign continued to acquire more media attention.
With the media fixated on events in Libya, the public focused on a related concern that received little news coverage -- rising oil prices.
Americans hearing mostly bad news about the economy has dropped to its lowest point since the financial collapse. Republicans, in particular, are much less likely to say they are hearing mostly bad economic news than they were a month ago.
