Project for Excellence in Journalism

Blogs Talk Iraq, Rugs

September 16, 2010

While bloggers sometimes focus on the same broad subject matter as the mainstream media, as last week illustrated, they can choose to explore very different aspects of those themes.

For the week of Sept. 6-10, one-quarter (25%) of the news links on blogs were about the war in Iraq, making it the No. 1 story according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

One week earlier, when the mainstream media focused on Iraq, primarily on President Obama declaring an end to the combat role, the social media largely ignored the subject. But bloggers got interested later when a Washington Post column revived a debate over the long-terms costs of the war.

News about the Obama White House was the No. 2 story on blogs (22%) and the No. 5 story in the mainstream media. While a good chunk of the mainstream media coverage focused on someone possibly leaving the administration -- chief of staff Rahm Emanuel -- the bloggers opted to talk about something that had just arrived -- the new rug prominently displayed in the Oval Office.

The social-media conversation about Iraq followed a column in the Sept. 5 Washington Post concluding that the true cost of the war -- factoring in the costs of treating veterans, increases in the cost of oil and the impact on the national debt -- is far greater than previously thought. Written by Joseph E. Stiglitz, the chairman of President Bill Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers, and Linda J. Bilmes, a senior lecturer in public policy at Harvard University, the piece expands on an estimate the two made in 2008 when they originally came up with the $3 trillion number -- although they offered no specific new price tag.

Blogosphere reaction to the piece was dominated by those who opposed the war and took the opportunity to express their frustration with the costs, both in lives and in dollars. Many also seconded the writers' assertion that one of the consequences of the war was that the U.S. federal debt increased and the country was less prepared to deal with the subsequent economic crisis.

The Oval Office rug conversation revolved around what some bloggers saw as a significant mistake. The new rug is lined with quotations, including one attributed to Martin Luther King, Jr.: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." While a direct quote from King, the statement was a paraphrase of the words of Theodore Parker, a Bostonian Unitarian minister King admired who died on the eve of the Civil War.

The Sept. 4 Washington Post article about the quote controversy was frequently linked to by bloggers, some who blamed Obama himself for not knowing his history.

The No. 3 topic on blogs, at 12%, was a Los Angeles Times story about a school named for former vice president and environmental activist Al Gore built on an area that may have toxic and contaminated soil.

Fourth, at 11%, were two Washington Post pieces about the 2010 elections: the results of a poll showing Republicans making gains and a column by Eugene Robinson, which described the frustrated electorate as having a "temper tantrum."

That was followed, at 10%, by several reports about the Florida pastor who announced plans to burn the Koran on Sept. 11 despite significant opposition from many political and religious leaders. Rev. Terry Jones did not go through with the burning, but the story generated large amounts of media attention. In addition to its fifth-place finish in the blogosphere, the subject was the third-largest story on Twitter (at 13%), a component of the most viewed YouTube video last week and was the second-largest subject in the mainstream press, according to PEJ's weekly News Coverage Index.

On the social networking site Twitter, the top two subjects last week highlighted the intersection of technology and journalism.

The top story, at 17%, was a Mashable report about a statement made by Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., chairman of the New York Times Co. At a recent conference, Sulzberger said he expects his newspaper to stop publishing a print edition sometime in the future as the result of losses in readership and the growth of news consumption on the Web.

Tweeters responded to the quote with a mix of surprise and satisfaction that old media were recognizing the importance of online news.

The No. 2 topic, at 15%, was another Mashable story, this one about a Japanese journalist being held in Afghanistan who used a captor's cell phone to tweet his location.

That was followed by the Koran controversy at 13%, and then two technology-focused subjects. Fourth, at 10%, were several stories about Google, including the company's new search function called "Google Instant" which displays results as soon as users type in their queries. Fifth, at 7%, was a report that Apple had reversed its position on banning Flash-derived applications for its iPhone, thus enabling developers more freedom for creating applications.

Continue reading the full report at journalism.org.