Analysis: Our Studies, Commentaries and Backgrounders

This section, Analysis, is the complete archive of all the research studies, commentaries, background reports, articles, or speeches PEJ has published. They are listed below in chronological order, but our archive is also searchable. Use the menus on the left to filter the contents and find exactly what you want.
  • How People Get Local News and Information in Different Communities

    Depending on the local news topic, urban residents are more likely to use mobile and online sources, while suburbanites are most heavily into social media and rural residents are more inclined to word of mouth sources. A joint PEJ-Pew Internet report offers more about how people get local news in specific communities.
  • The Master Character Narratives in Campaign 2012

    On the eve of the conventions, the portrayal in the news media of the character and records of the two presidential contenders in 2012 has been as negative as any campaign in recent times, and neither candidate has enjoyed any advantage over the other.
  • How the Presidential Candidates Use the Web and Social Media

    On the eve of the conventions, Barack Obama holds a distinct advantage over Mitt Romney in the way his campaign is using digital technology to communicate directly with voters. The Obama campaign is posting almost four times as much content and is active on nearly twice as many platforms, according to a new study analyzing the content and volume of candidate communications on their websites and social media channels.
  • For Communication Grads, a Modest Job Recovery

    What’s the job market like for 2011 mass communication and journalism graduates? According to a new survey from the University of Georgia, there was an uptick in the percentage of bachelor degree recipients who found jobs and, for the first time in years, a small increase in their salaries. But the overall picture is far from rosy.
  • On Twitter, Verdict on Paterno Unchanged by Freeh Report, NCAA

    The conversation on Twitter about the Penn State scandal has shifted focus over the last month from the man convicted of sexual abuse to the school and then to the NCAA. But one constant in the conversation has not budged—views of Joe Paterno.
  • YouTube & News

    News is becoming a major part of what Americans watch on YouTube. In the last 15 months, a third of the most searched terms on the video sharing site were news related. A new study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism explores the character of news on YouTube.
  • Social Media Passionate and Divided over Court’s Health Care Ruling

    Users of Twitter, Facebook and blogs weighed in heavily on the Supreme Court Health Care ruling last week. PEJ examines the sentiment on each of the three social media platforms, how that sentiment shifted in the days that followed the ruling and the degree to which users delved into implications for the presidential contenders.

  • News Corp Split, Buffett’s Bet Top Year of Big Media Ownership Changes

    Reports that News Corp is spinning off the publishing division cap a year of major changes in news industry ownership. It was the busiest time for newspaper sales since 2007 and witnessed the single largest local TV acquisition in four years. Visit PEJ’s interactive database, to explore financial statistics on more than 4,000 radio and TV stations, newspapers and news websites.
  • What Americans Learned From the Media About the Health Care Debate

    PEJ examines how the health care debate was presented in the press, which party won the messaging war and how the bill has largely disappeared from view.
  • Facebook IPO Not Selling on Social Media

    The Facebook IPO was a hot topic on blogs, Twitter and Facebook last week with doubts about the stock’s value exceeding bullishness on the investment.  And the topics of conversation—which ranged from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s wedding to co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s citizenship—varied by social media platform.