Bloggers Lead with Deficit, Egypt

Though it doesn't often happen, the social and mainstream media were in sync last week as bloggers focused on two primary topics- the U.S. budget and Mideast unrest.

For the week of February 14-18, 22% of the news links on blogs were about President Obama's $3.73 trillion budget proposal, according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. That subject, along with the state budget strife in Wisconsin, topped the mainstream agenda as well last week. The president's budget proposal included a projected $1.6 trillion deficit, which was a concern for bloggers on both sides of the political aisle. However, conservatives and liberals linked to dueling columns from the Washington Post to support their differing views of the economic debate. Conservatives highlighted a Post editorial criticizing Obama for refusing to include tough choices about entitlement reform in his proposal. Liberals focused on a piece by Dana Milbank in which he accused House Speaker John Boehner of hypocrisy for saying that jobs are his party's first priority, but appearing indifferent to layoffs that could occur if the GOP's budget cuts were passed. The second story on blogs, at 21%, was the situation in Egypt following the protests and the February 11 resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. Two weeks earlier, the upheaval in Egypt had dominated the blogosphere, accounting for 57% of that week's links.