Project for Excellence in Journalism

Bloggers Applaud Gay Marriage Victory

August 12, 2010

On Wednesday, Aug. 4, U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that California's ban on same-sex marriages, otherwise known as Proposition 8, was unconstitutional. This marked the first time a U.S. judge had made such a declaration under federal rather than state law.

Online, the ruling prompted a blizzard of commentary among bloggers, who overwhelmingly cheered the news. It also demonstrated how people coalesced around a single issue can create a significant and influential voice in social media.

For the week of Aug. 2-6, more than a quarter (27%) of the news links on blogs were about the same-sex marriage ruling, according to the New Media Index produced by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

Most bloggers commenting on the story celebrated the decision as a victory for equal rights, and some made personal connections to their own lives. A few voices, however, objected to the ruling, often arguing that it was unfairly overturning the will of the people of California.

The issue of gay rights has been a frequent subject of discussion in the blogosphere as measured by PEJ's New Media Index. For example, the week of March 1-5, the issue of gay rights and the Catholic Church was the top story, representing 16% of the news links in blogs studied. The month before, Feb. 1-5, gay rights issues, including the military's policy of "don't ask, don't tell," were also a major subject of discussion finishing third with 13%. Overall, last week marks the seventh time the subject finished in the top five since PEJ began its New Media Index in January 2009.

And on most of those occasions, the majority of commentary has been from those supportive of expanding gay rights.

The second-biggest story on blogs last week, accounting for 20% of news links, was the controversy over the website WikiLeaks which had released more than 90,000 secret documents related to the war in Afghanistan. Interest was sparked by a strongly-worded Washington Post column by Marc Thiessen that declared WikiLeaks a "criminal enterprise." Bloggers overwhelmingly came to WikiLeaks' defense, many of them arguing the website had performed an important watchdog role by releasing information the government did not want public.

The relationship between blogs and the mainstream press is often dynamic and complicated. But in regard to the WikiLeaks controversy, bloggers were about a week behind the traditional press in drawing attention to it, reacting as much to the debate about the story as the story itself.

During the week of July 26-Aug. 1, when the news of the leaked documents first broke, the topic was a major subject in the mainstream press, finishing as the No. 2 story that week and filling 13% of the newshole studied, according to PEJ's News Coverage Index. Much of the focus was on its findings suggesting that the U.S. was facing a difficult challenge in Afghanistan. That same week, social media did not address the issue as significantly. The subject was not among the top subjects discussed on blogs or Twitter.

This past week, however, bloggers engaged with the WikiLeaks controversy enough to make it the second-largest story in social media. In the traditional press, by contrast, the subject had fallen to the point that it was not among the top ten subjects discussed.

The next three biggest subjects on blogs last week were all hot political issues.

At No. 3, with 13% of the links, was a USA Today/Gallup poll showing waning support for President Obama's handling of the war in Afghanistan.

The subject of the Bush tax cuts which are set to expire at the end of the year was No. 4, also at 13%. Bloggers highlighted two Washington Post pieces on the subject: a story by William G. Gale, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, which described five common myths about the tax cuts, and a column by Newsweek International editor Fareed Zakaria advocating for letting the tax cuts expire.

Fifth, at 10%, was a Los Angeles Times column by conservative writer David Klinghoffer, which bemoans the shift of the conservative political movement from visionaries and intellectuals to one that now leans toward "demagoguery and hucksterism."

On the social networking site Twitter, a wide variety of stories from around the globe garnered attention. And though the leading topic roster on Twitter is often heavily weighted toward technology subjects, this week only one of the five top stories fell into that category.

With 21% of the week's links, the top Twitter subject was news that Bill Gates and Warren Buffett had convinced 40 of America's billionaires to give away as much as half of their wealth to various charities. Most of the comments on Twitter were supportive of the perceived generosity, although a few skeptics voiced doubt.

Second, at 16%, was a short story from the Associated Press about a Mexican newborn that was declared dead, only to be discovered alive after her parents heard noises coming from inside the tiny casket during her wake.

Stories that Google had announced it was stopping development of Google Wave, a real-time collaboration tool, were third at 9%. That was followed by a BBC report saying that the meat from the offspring of a cloned cow had become part of the British food chain last year, at 7%. The fifth-biggest story, at 5%, was the news that musician Wyclef Jean had announced his bid to become president of Haiti. Most Twitterers were supportive of the star's political aspirations.

Continue reading the full report at journalism.org.