Analysis: Our studies

This section, Studies, contains PEJ's major empirical research studies, including our annual reports on the state of journalism divided into searchable subchapters. They are listed below in chronological order. Or you can use the menus on the left to filter our entire archive and find exactly what you want.
  • Media Coverage of City Governments

    As the media landscape shifts, where can people turn for coverage of local news subjects, particularly government and public affairs? A new study conducted by a team of Michigan State University researchers, examines 175 communities and finds the majority of news about local government still comes from newspapers. But in many cases it is weeklies not dailies providing the most coverage. PEJ offers a summary of their findings.
  • Media, Race and Obama’s First Year

    The fallout from the firing of Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod and the one-year anniversary of the controversial arrest of African American Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., have put race back in the news. How much coverage do African Americans receive? What role did race play in coverage of the Obama Administration? A new study examining media coverage of African Americans in the first year of the Obama presidency offers answers.
  • Six Things to Know About Health Care Coverage

    The drive for health care reform legislation proved to be the most passionate and polarizing policy fight of Barack Obama’s first year in office, with the public and Congress deeply divided over the initiative. And much of that battle played out through a changing media universe. A new PEJ study, examining 10 months of health care stories, identifies some of the key elements of that coverage.
  • The Pope Meets the Press

    The Catholic clergy sexual abuse scandal is making headlines again at a level not seen since 2002, according to a new study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Find out more about the scandal’s resurgence in Europe, coverage in the U.S. media and intense media scrutiny on the pope himself.
  • New Media, Old Media

    The stories and issues that gain traction in social media differ substantially from those that lead in the mainstream press. But they also differ greatly from each other. Across a year-long study of blogs, Twitter and YouTube, the three platforms shared the same top story just once. What are the stories and issues that dominate in theses platforms? And what media outlets tend to provide those stories? A new year-long study by report offers answers.
  • Hiding in Plain Sight, From Kennedy to Brown

    The race for Ted Kennedy’s Massachusetts Senate seat began largely drama-free and little-covered and ended as the most surprising and intensely-covered political story in the country. Which candidate got the most favorable attention? How did coverage change over time? How did the local Boston papers differ in their reporting? A new study examines newspaper coverage of the race.
  • News Leaders and the Future

    What do today’s newspaper and broadcast news executives think about the economics of their industry? Are they optimistic for the future? A new survey by the Project for Excellence in Journalism in association with the American Society of News Editors and the Radio Television Digital News Association offers answers.
  • Understanding the Participatory News Consumer

    An overwhelming majority of Americans get their news from multiple news platforms. Which media sectors do people in the U.S rely on most? How has the internet and mobile technology changed the way people consume news? A joint PEJ-Pew Internet survey examines how internet and cell phone users have transformed news into a social experience.
  • How News Happens

    A new PEJ study investigates where news comes from in today’s rapidly changing media landscape. An examination of local media in Baltimore provides insight on how the U.S. media ecosystem works. What role do new media, blogs and specialty news sites play in the news cycle? Who is breaking news? Which reports advanced the story? The study answers these questions and more.
  • Hispanics in the News

    Hispanics are already the largest minority group in the United States, 16% of the population,—and that percentage is expected to nearly double by the middle of this century. How is this growing population portrayed in the American news media? A new study produced jointly by PEJ and the Pew Hispanic Center looks at coverage of Hispanics over six months of 2009.