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Project for Excellence in Journalism
Blogs Debate Prisoner Release Decision
Bloggers displayed a strong law and order streak last week as two crime and public safety topics combined to account for nearly half (47%) of the news links studied by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.
From May 23-27, the top story on blogs (34% of the news links) was the May 23 U.S. Supreme Court ruling ordering California to release thousands of prisoners due to overcrowding, making it the No. 1 subject, according to PEJ's New Media Index.
The Court's 5-4 decision found that the overcrowding led to "needless suffering and death" among prisoners. But that position held little sway with most bloggers who were upset with the ruling and far more concerned about a threat to public safety than any dangers posed to the inmates.
Another California crime story, the May 22 arrest of a suspect accused of severely beating a San Francisco Giants baseball fan at Dodgers Stadium in March, was the No. 3 story on blogs, at 13%. It had been almost two months since the initial highly publicized incident occurred, and bloggers expressed relief that an arrest was finally made in a case that has left the victim fighting for his life.
Crime-related issues do not often top the weekly roster of blogosphere subjects. Indeed, since PEJ began tracking social media in January 2009, this is only the eighth such story to register as No. 1. (The last one to finish first, March 28-April 1, was also a Supreme Court decision -- that one overturning a verdict awarding $14 million to a man formerly on death row.)
But clearly, the prisoner ruling and heinous nature of the Dodger Stadium case elicited strong reactions last week from bloggers, who expressed visceral concerns about safety and crime.
The second-largest subject on blogs, with 21% of the links, was an event that didn't happen. Harold Camping, head of the Christian Family Radio broadcast network, predicted that Saturday, May 21, would be Judgment Day and the Rapture would occur according to Biblical teachings. Camping's prediction received significant media attention and his followers spent significant time and money to spread the word.
Many bloggers viewed the incident as laughable and characterized Camping's followers as naive, but a number of religious bloggers also discussed the incident. A few commenters also felt badly for those who had devoted so much time and energy to the cause.
The story that dominated the mainstream media last week, the devastating May 22 tornado that killed more than 100 people in Joplin, Mo., was a far smaller topic among bloggers, registering as the week's No. 4 story at 6%. Those who did comment on the tragedy expressed sympathy for those suffering.
A three-year-old op-ed column -- written in 2008 by current presidential candidate Mitt Romney opposing the bailouts of General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford -- was the fifth subject, also at 6%. After the Romney campaign recently claimed that the former Massachusetts governor advocated a form of the Detroit bailout before President Obama and deserved some of the credit for its success, bloggers posted his 2008 remarks and criticized him for hypocrisy.
On the social networking site Twitter, the five top news topics all involved social media and how people or companies can expand their influence online.