Media Coverage

A conservative media watchdog organization fumed Wednesday that Rep. Todd Akin's theory about “legitimate rape” and pregnancy drew four times the number of network news stories as Vice President Joe Biden's rant that Republican banking policy would “put y'all back in chains.” The Media Research Center called it “unconscionable” that ABC, NBC and CBS had aired 89 minutes of coverage of Akin's lame-brained statement, compared...

When a friend gets rich and famous and moves to Paris, then prattles on about the nutty things that French dentists say, that's grounds for never speaking to that person again. When the friend in question is an imaginary friend and his name is David Sedaris, such indiscretions are not only forgiven but embraced wholeheartedly. If there's ever been an author who is consistently forgiven for his trespasses, it's David Sedaris. In "Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls," everyone's favorite imaginary friend has abandoned France for the English countryside, where his life of leisure is only occasionally interrupted by sojourns to China, Australia and Japan.

If the television channels, conventional and cable, would provide as much free time with press conferences and on talk shows, etc. to political candidates during election time as they have provided members of the House of Representatives and the Senate during the impeachment trial of the president, there would be no need for campaign-finance reform legislation. ALEX BRITTON Los Alamitos

NEW DELHI - Protracted shouting by lawyers insisting that suspects in a high-profile gang rape case don't deserve legal representation marked the first court appearance Monday of five defendants and raised concerns among legal and human-rights campaigners that inflamed passions could trump the men's legal rights. Apparently convinced of the defendants' guilt based on media coverage of the case, members of a bar association representing lawyers in New Delhi's Saket District Court announced last week that none of its members would represent the defendants.

When the news broke Monday that Catherine, the duchess of Cambridge - or, as everyone continues to insist on calling her, “Kate Middleton” - was pregnant , it was inevitable that the American news media would catch a serious case of royal baby feve r. And it was nearly as certain that “The Daily Show” would skewer the overblown coverage, which they did brilliantly on Thursday night. Jon Stewart began by riffing on the headline on the British tabloid The Sun, which read “Kate Expectations.” He suggested there were better pregnancy puns inspired by great literature.

A final surge of positive media coverage propelled President Obama in the last two weeks of the presidential race, while coverage of challenger Mitt Romney remained negative but also tapered off in volume - probably because news outlets shifted their attention to Superstorm Sandy, according to a new study . The Washington-based Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism found that “positive stories about Obama (29%)...

Rick Perry really did get an easy ride, Ron Paul really has been ignored and Barack Obama truly can't catch a break. That's a rough summary of the findings of a massive, computer-based study of campaign coverage by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. The center, using a computer program developed by a Harvard University expert on quantitative analysis, analyzed every campaign story published from May 2 though Oct. 9 by about 11,500 news outlets -- essentially every news outlet in the business -- to determine whether each individual statement about a candidate was positive, negative or neutral.

The media coverage on the Casey Anthony murder case drew comparisons to the trials of O.J. Simpson and the Menendez brothers nearly two decades ago. A look at some coverage and its impact: •Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, truTV, HLN, along with local and other national networks, carried Tuesday's verdict live. •More than 600 press passes were doled out for media coverage, and every major broadcast network has had at least one reporter at the trial. •CNN and NBC built two-story air-conditioned structures across from the courthouse for reporters and crews.

There has been a lot of criticism of TV networks and newspaper reporters about coverage of the Beirut hostage situation. Some within the Administration have objected, stating that the media were endangering their private negotiations with the terrorists. Maybe so, but I haven't heard anyone yet say that the coverage abetted and probably accelerated the release of the hostages. In my opinion the media coverage, watched by millions throughout the world, put pressure on our government to do something--and to do it as soon as possible.

I don't understand all this negative reaction toward the media for their poking into the background of poor innocent Quayle. I don't remember any cries of media persecution when the same press went after Joe Biden or Gary Hart (who had reporters from the Miami Herald stationed outside his door until the wee hours of the morning). Could it be that a large part of this so-called backlash against the press is orchestrated? MARY PANZARELLA Anaheim

When the news broke Monday that Catherine, the duchess of Cambridge - or, as everyone continues to insist on calling her, “Kate Middleton” - was pregnant , it was inevitable that the American news media would catch a serious case of royal baby feve r. And it was nearly as certain that “The Daily Show” would skewer the overblown coverage, which they did brilliantly on Thursday night. Jon Stewart began by riffing on the headline on the British tabloid The Sun, which read “Kate Expectations.” He suggested there were better pregnancy puns inspired by great literature.

A final surge of positive media coverage propelled President Obama in the last two weeks of the presidential race, while coverage of challenger Mitt Romney remained negative but also tapered off in volume - probably because news outlets shifted their attention to Superstorm Sandy, according to a new study . The Washington-based Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism found that “positive stories about Obama (29%)...

A study of how the media have covered the presidential race since the parties' national conventions shows that President Obama received more positive mainstream media coverage than Mitt Romney. Obama received more positive mainstream media coverage than Romney over the last two months, though the campaign narrative turned sharply against the incumbent after his tepid performance in the first presidential debate, according to a survey of 49 major media outlets . Obama's coverage was positive only in relative terms, though, compared with the often glowing accounts that greeted his run four years ago. Back in 2008, the then-senator from Illinois drew nearly twice as many positive stories as negative ones.

BEIJING - With cameras rolling, the reporter from state television's new "Are You Happy?" segment marched up to a Shanghai street sweeper in a turquoise jumpsuit and thrust his microphone forward. The workman froze for a moment, mouth agape at the reporter's questions about his quality of life. He makes three times the salary he did five years ago, he acknowledged. But he also alluded to China's inflation, and added that there was a gap in his social security coverage. "I hope the leaders would help people like me," said the street sweeper, who like so many others is a migrant from the hinterland.

A conservative media watchdog organization fumed Wednesday that Rep. Todd Akin's theory about “legitimate rape” and pregnancy drew four times the number of network news stories as Vice President Joe Biden's rant that Republican banking policy would “put y'all back in chains.” The Media Research Center called it “unconscionable” that ABC, NBC and CBS had aired 89 minutes of coverage of Akin's lame-brained statement, compared...

NBC's coverage of the London Olympics has blown away the most optimistic projections for audience performance in an increasingly fractured media landscape. More than 210 million Americans have watched a portion of the Games. The network attracted an average of about 32 million viewers a night in prime time - though the time difference with London meant NBC was showing highlights from events that occurred long before the telecast. Younger viewers, including those typically tethered to laptops or cellphones, have been watching the coverage, often with groups of friends.

With Republican Mitt Romney offering no hints about his vice presidential selection, political observers have been on the alert for the smallest of clues. And it seemed - at least for a moment - that keeping a close eye on Wikipedia might offer a hint. Micah Sifry, co-founder of the Personal Democracy Forum, on Monday theorized that the number of edits made to a politician's Wikipedia page could be used as s hint of their standing in the vice presidential race. Sarah Palin's page was altered 68 times the day before she was announced as Sen. John McCain's running mate.

They might well be the most powerful men and women in the nation, but most Americans probably couldn't pick the members of the U.S. Supreme Court out of a lineup. (Unless perhaps they were the only ones wearing long black robes.) As the court's current term draws to a close, it's issuing a series of monumental decisions this week that will affect every man, woman and child in the country. Today alone, the court handed down a split decision on Arizona's controversial immigration law, and ruled that it was unconstitutional to send juveniles to prison for life without the possibility of parole.