Project for Excellence in Journalism

Blogs Remember Elizabeth Taylor

April 1, 2011

The online outpouring in response to last week's passing of Elizabeth Taylor demonstrated not only the kind of subjects bloggers can gravitate to, but how social media can serve as a kind of communal hearth, or in this case, a digital memorial service.

For the week of March 21-25, fully one-third (33%) of the news links on blogs were about Taylor's March 23 death at age 79, making it the No. 1 subject, according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

Bloggers were also attuned to the two big international crises last week, which were the No. 2 and No. 3 topics -- the aftermath of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan (25%) and the conflict in Libya, which now involves the U.S. military (18%).

High levels of interest in the passing of a Hollywood luminary are part of a trend that has been evident ever since PEJ began the New Media Index in January 2009. Bloggers like to reminisce about popular culture figures. Dom DeLuise, Patrick Swayze, and Leslie Nielsen -- lesser celebrities than Taylor -- all received significant attention after their deaths.

At 33% of the links, Taylor's death received more coverage on blogs than that of any other celebrity, including pop icon Michael Jackson who generated 27% of the links when he died in June 2009 -- although the fact that Jackson died later in the week (Thursday as opposed to Wednesday for Taylor) may have contributed to the smaller number.

Indeed, Taylor's death was also a major story in the mainstream media last week, registering as the No. 3 subject in PEJ's News Coverage Index.

Taylor became known not only for her screen work but also for her AIDS activism, her style, and her numerous marriages. As they shared their favorite recollections, though, bloggers most often remembered Taylor the actress -- whose career peaked in the 1950's and 60's.

And as an example of how social media allow for new kinds of interactions online, many bloggers used their sites to link to the Los Angeles Times obituary or to pictures and videos of Taylor available elsewhere on the web.

The next biggest topics in the blogosphere last week were the Japanese earthquake followed by the war in Libya, a reversal of the news agenda in the mainstream media where coverage of Libya far exceeded that of Japan.

In this respect, bloggers seemed more in tune with the public than mainstream media were. According to the News Interest Index produced by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, considerably more survey respondents said the situation in Japan, rather than the fighting in Libya, was the story they were following most closely last week.

The attention to the recovery efforts in Japan followed several different storylines. Some bloggers focused on the damage to the Fukushima power plant while others were alarmed by the discovery of tiny amounts of radiation as far away as Sacramento. But the story of a Japanese man who rescued his family and others trapped by the tsunami became a source of inspiration amid the despair and fear.

The general sentiment from bloggers who discussed Libya, the third-biggest story, was that of skepticism. Writers wondered why the U.S. had undertaken the military mission, and were concerned that other countries in the international coalition would abandon the conflict, leaving the U.S. with the full cost and responsibility going forward.

The No. 4 story on blogs, at 10%, was about a 400-pound former sumo wrestler named Kelly Gneiting who completed the L.A. Marathon in just under 10 hours. Gneiting, who jogged and walked the course, may have set a world record as the heaviest person ever to complete a full marathon.

And a BBC travelogue video about Ukraine, a country that will host the 2012 European Championships along with Poland, was the fifth-biggest story at 3%.

On Twitter, the top stories were a mix, with a heavy emphasis on technology. The lead subject, with 12% of the links, was phone giant AT&T's acquisition of T-Mobile for $39 billion. In another sign of the ascendancy of social media, the addition of several new words to the Oxford English Dictionary Online -- including the online colloquialisms of "LOL" and "OMG," -- was the second-biggest story with 10%.

Continue reading the full report at journalism.org.