BuzzMachine

The media pundit's pundit. Written by NYC insider Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine covers news, media, journalism, and politics.

Pope OD

17 comments on Pope OD

Pope OD

: We’ve long since passed the point of too much with the pope story. The world has not stopped. But media has. Here’s the evidence:

Major news media around the world devoted 10 times as many stories to Pope John Paul II’s death as they did to the re-election of President Bush, according to an analysis released Monday.

The Global Language Monitor, which scans the Internet for the use of specific words or phrases using Roman characters, found 35,000 new stories on the pope in the 24 hours after his death Saturday.

That compares with about 3,500 new stories on Bush within a day of his re-election and 1,000 new stories on former President Reagan within a day of his death last year.

More from their site:

Preliminary numbers from the Global Language Monitor’s daily Internet and media analysis suggest that in the 24 hours since the pontiff’s death, there have been some 35,000 major news stories, and more than 3.5 million internet citations. In comparison, for the entire preceding year there were only 28.000 major new stories and 1.5 million Internet citations about John Paul II.

According to Paul JJ Payack, President of The Global Language Monitor, “The word historic is associated with the pontiff over 1,000,000 times, while conservative is associated some 300,000 times, and loved or beloved about a quarter million times in the first 24 hours since John Paul’s passing.”

17 responses to “Pope OD”

  1. tb Avatar
    tb

    Amen

  2. Kat Avatar
    Kat

    Personally, I love the coverage. I loved the story about his Jewish orchestra guy to whom he sent a 16th century menorrah to honour the kids’ barmitvahs. I cried at the Tony Menensas(sp) story. But you are right, lots of pissed off people. Why don’t they just turn the channel?
    {Documentaries have been airing throughout the Muslim world highlighting John Paul II’s appeals for peace and dialogue between all faiths and civilizations.
    But according to Agence France-Presse, Islamic websites are filled with heated rhetoric, blasting the Arab networks for assigning the pope such importance.
    One writer said viewers of Al-Jazeera were “annoyed” with continuous reports eulogizing the pontiff, whom the user described as an “old tyrant.”
    “What is mortifying is that this hooligan channel pretends [to defend] Islam,” added the user, who wrote under the name Muhib al-Salihine on the Islamic News Network, a website often used by Islamist terrorists operating in Iraq.
    “What is more humiliating ñ I think that it was Al-Arabiya channel ñ is that the imam of a mosque … praised the memory [of the pope],” said Seri Eddine le Libyen on the same site, according to the wire service.
    “I have started to hate Al-Jazeera for the multiplicity of information on the grieving” for the pope, said another. }

  3. Mumblix Grumph Avatar
    Mumblix Grumph

    It’s a spectacle and the Media love a spectacle, especially the 24 hour newsies.
    I still wonder what they would have done with Elvis’s funeral if they had been around then.

  4. dick Avatar
    dick

    The fact that his constituency reaches into almost every country in the world might just have something to do with the coverage, don’t you think?????? while Bush’s constituency is the US.

  5. Robert McClelland Avatar
    Robert McClelland

    Good old Kat. She can always be counted on to find a way to hate somebody no matter what the story is. I’m surprised her white hot anger hasn’t caused her to spontaneously combust though.
    We’ve long since passed the point of too much with the pope story. The world has not stopped. But media has.
    So what, Jeff. The Pope was loved by hundreds of millions of people. Let them have their moment. Or does it always have to be about you?

  6. Ruth Avatar
    Ruth

    Try C-Span.

  7. Cbell Avatar
    Cbell

    I can understand why people would be getting tired of this – we got rid of our tv, which is probably a saving grace for my Baptist husband. I can’t indulge in what I want to do, which is wallow in “All Pope, All the Time” for a while. A presidential election impacts 4 years. The Pope’s impact was 26 years, more than 2/3 of my life. He was a very central, very public figure with a powerful influence on my religion. So on behalf of those who are dealing with this huge void, I would ask for your patience for a few weeks. Besides, what else would you watch – the Michael Jackson trial?

  8. Kat Avatar
    Kat

    Robert–I always hate the islamists. It’s not the moderate muslims doing the bitching. Hell, even his wanna be muslim killer feels remorse. It’s the fanatics who are upset.

  9. Timothy Avatar
    Timothy

    Does that analysis strike anyone else as just a little too meta? Especially the news releases about the analysis?

  10. B.B. Avatar
    B.B.

    When George W. has ruled for 26 years and expires having given every fiber of his being for the dignity of the individual, then we’ll have 35,000 etc., etc. Go Dubya!!

  11. submandave Avatar
    submandave

    “Major news media around the world devoted 10 times as many stories to Pope John Paul II’s death as they did to the re-election of President Bush”
    <cynicism>
       Perhaps because they support one event and not the other?
    </cynicism>

  12. button Avatar
    button

    So what?! . . .
    Meanwhile, there’s been a rapist loose in our neighborhood.
    “OVER-GODDED” entry:
    *http://eclectchap.blogspot.com*

  13. Tony Avatar
    Tony

    Writing from Europe, we are probably even more overwhelmed in the media, and I agree with the OD point of view. I find the statistics quoted misleading however given than the two counter-examples (GW Bush’s re-election and Regan’s funeral) have much less interest worldwide than the Pope – who has a following of something approaching 1 billion Catholics.

  14. kevinP Avatar
    kevinP

    Jeff:
    The coverage has met the demand. Whether or not it merits this much coverage is subjective. Plus count the number of Pope threads on your own blog and there seems to be a bit of hypocrisy going on. Everyone has channel changers and other blogs to go to for non-Pope coverage.Roger Simon has posted almost nothing on the Pope and is focusing on other things. As another post mentioned this is far better then Jackson coverage and car chases. Maybe you should lead the media by not constantly posting on the Pope if you think the coverage is too much. Other bloggers have done it, you can too.

  15. Scaramonga Avatar
    Scaramonga

    When people clamor to the FCC to clean up public television, people like Jeff say, “Look, all you have to do is change the channel or turn the TV off. Nobody’s forcing you to watch it.” Then we get wall-to-wall coverage of the Pope’s death and Jeff’s tune changes key, cadence, and melody all at once – now he’s demanding they get this “overcoverage” off the tube. Funny thing about that, though, most TV networks, including the 24/7 news nets, have a keen sense for what attracts the largest slice of the viewing audience and that’s what we get to see.
    How else can you possibly explain such inane shows like American Idol or Desperate Housewives? Come on, Jeff, just change the channel.

  16. Kurt Avatar
    Kurt

    That’s right, too much about dead Popes. What we need is more Howard Stern!

  17. Scaramonga Avatar
    Scaramonga

    Howard Stern stinks the joint up.