May 21, 2012
This story plus local news outlets decide whether to pick up the Obama campaign's first attack on Romney and the Ford Foundation gives the LA Times a $1 million grant, all in today's headlines.

Today's Lead

lead image

In Social Media, Support for Same-sex Marriage: May 7-11, 2012

During a week when North Carolina voters rejected same-sex marriage and President Obama endorsed it, the controversial issue inspired a passionate debate on blogs and Twitter. And in both social media platforms, those in favor of allowing gay couples to wed dominated those who were opposed.

Special Features  

State of the News Media

PEJ's latest report on the health and status of American journalism is now online. This year's report includes analysis of the eight main sectors of media and special reports on mobile devices and news consumption and the role of Facebook and Twitter in news. 


Explore the tone and volume of news coverage and Twitter conversations about each presidential candidate in the Campaign 2012 in the Media interactive.


Read PEJ's report that examines how the discussion on Twitter varies from blogs and news coverage and how Republican candidate Ron Paul is succeeding on Twitter. The report also offers updates on how all the candidates are faring in the news media and in the blogosphere.


Explore the data from the nearly 46,000 stories PEJ analyzed in 2011 in its weekly News Coverage Index or read the Year in the News report for an analysis of news coverage in 2011; the differences in the mainstream press and social news agendas and comparisons of public opinion and media coverage.


Tom Rosenstiel and Bill Kovach recently published their new book,Blur: How to Know What’s True in the Age of Information Overload. It outlines what any consumer should ask to decide whether the content they are looking at is reliable.
Latest from PewResearch.org
The Project for Excellence in Journalism is one of seven projects that make up the Pew Research Center.