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Project for Excellence in Journalism
Bloggers Discuss Pulitzer Prize
Rumors Twitter May Acquiring TweetDeck is Top Tweet
Last week, the Golden State was the focal point of much of the blogosphere's interest. Three separate stories about some form of wrongdoing or impropriety in that state were among the most popular news stories on blogs. Two involved actions by California politicians, while one featured a modern method of mourning that appeared morally questionable to some bloggers.
For the week of April 18-22, 14% of the news links on blogs were about the awarding of a Pulitzer Prize to the Los Angeles Times for its coverage of corrupt officials in Bell, California, tying it for the No. 1 subject ranking, according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.
The prize-winning series, which appeared in the spring of 2010, exposed the exorbitant salaries of city officials in the small, working-class town. As a result of the investigation, eight former city officials were charged with multiple felonies and many California counties instituted tough new disclosure laws. Last week, the Pulitzer Prize committee awarded the Times a gold medal for public service, which triggered a conversation about the improper activities of public officials.
In addition, many bloggers saw the award as a sign that quality newspaper journalism is not dead, as social media users discussed one of traditional journalism's most prestigious awards.
And, in another sign of the interactivity that social media can facilitate, several individuals at the Los Angeles Times shared information online about how the series was created and the joyous reaction of those in the newsroom when they learned of the Pulitzer award.
Another California story making the list of top five subjects among bloggers (at 5%) was an agreement between Gov. Jerry Brown and the state's prison guards. The new contract allows guards to save unlimited vacation days which could result in massive payoffs for officers when they retire. Most bloggers felt that Brown was giving special deals to a group that had been one of his biggest political backers.
The No. 3 story last week, at 10%, was another California issue that angered bloggers, although it had nothing to do with politics or public policy. Instead, it was a drive-thru funeral home in Compton, California where mourners can pull up to the facility and pay respects to the deceased through a glass-encased chamber. A number of commenters found the idea tasteless and a poor way to honor the dead.
Elsewhere on Blogs
The other top story on blogs last week (at 14%) highlights two patterns found in social media: the influence of British news and culture and the marking of deaths of famous individuals. The passing of actress Elisabeth Sladen, 63, was especially noteworthy for British children because of Sladen's role in "The Sarah Jane Adventures," a British science fiction series which was a spin-off of the show "Doctor Who." Many blogs linked to a BBC page that featured children's memories of Sladen.
Bloggers frequently take time to note the passing of well-known individuals. In the last six weeks alone, the deaths of columnist David Broder and actress Elizabeth Taylor both received significant attention in the New Media Index
The role of social media in presidential campaigns was the fourth subject, at 6%. The story reported on how, in the wake of Barack Obama's successful embrace of social media in 2008, all candidates are now looking online to aid their campaigns.
And another subject that tied for fifth last week (at 5%) was a Los Angeles Times story about Mexican drug cartels setting up shop in cities around the U.S. such as Seattle, Anchorage and Minneapolis.
On Twitter, the top stories had to do with both the pros and cons of new technologies and social media.
The leading subject, with 16% of the news links, involved rumors that Twitter was in the process of acquiring TweetDeck, a site that is a personal browser where users can design and focus on the tweets and updates they are most interested in.
The controversy over the discovery by Wired that iPhones and iPads have tracking devices that have been sending users' location information to Apple for the past 10 months was No. 2 on Twitter, at 9%.
A study by the dating site OKCupid showing that active users of Twitter tend to have shorter relationships than the rest of the population was third biggest story (at 7%). That was followed by two different stories about Facebook, both at 5%.