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Project for Excellence in Journalism
Blogs Follow Palin's Road Trip
It was Sarah Palin and her controversial "One Nation" bus tour that led bloggers back to politics.
For the week of May 30-June 3, 12% of the news links on blogs were about the potential candidate's actions, making Palin the No. 1 subject, according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. This is the first time in two months that politics led the discussion on blogs.
The last time was in early March when the crop of potential Republican candidates for the 2012 presidential campaign was the most linked-to subject. Other hot political topics in recent weeks such as Donald Trump's potential candidacy, the release of President Obama's original birth certificate, and even the negotiations that nearly resulted in a federal government shutdown were not enough to turn the blogosphere's attention to politics.
At 12%, the story was not an overwhelming portion of the conversation when compared with the portion garnered by other recent top stories, such as the breakup of Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger three weeks ago (41%) or the death of Elizabeth Taylor in March (33%). But it drew bloggers in and was large enough to top all other subjects last week.
Two specific Palin-related events on her bus tour drew attention from bloggers. The first was her apperance at the May 29 kickoff at the Rolling Thunder motorcycle rally in Washington, D.C., and the second was her June 2 visit to New Hampshire, which coincided with Mitt Romney's formal announcement that he was running for president.
The tone of the conversation regarding Palin was split, although not along traditional ideological lines. Liberal bloggers were critical and thought that her attention-getting tour was harmful for the Republican Party. Conservatives, however, were divided. Some agreed with liberals -- at least in seeing Palin as an obstacle to success in finding a GOP nominee who could beat Obama in 2012. But others expressed support for her -- seeing Palin as a popular, grassroots figure whose actions are creating needed energy in the party.
And while some conservative bloggers offered their take on whether Palin would decide to run or not, very few expressed confidence in their predictions.
Another political issue also made it among the most-linked stories last week: the tense White House meeting between President Obama and House Republicans about the federal debt ceiling. The story was the fourth largest subject at 8%. According to the Los Angeles Times, "the two sides traded complaints, accusing each other of partisanship and posturing" rather than making progress toward an agreement.
Most of the bloggers who discussed the meeting were liberal and focused on two aspects. One was a disarming quote from Obama and the other was the potentially dangerous consequences to the economy if an agreement to raise the debt ceiling is not reached.
The other top stories on blogs last week included a health warning, an investigation into the local government in Los Angeles, and an effort to change sentences for some drug offenders.
On the social networking site Twitter, social media strategies for small businesses and international warnings about the environment took the lead.
Learn more about these stories by reading the full report at journalism.org.