What's news?

The Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) News Coverage Index listing of the top ten news stories (by percent) for June 10 – 15 is worth a quick look.


This is a ranking of news topics for newspapers, online, network TV, cable TV and radio. Here is the overall ranking, for all five sectors.

Rank Story Percent of Newshole
1 Immigration 10%
2 Palestinian Conflict 9
3 Events in Iraq 7
4 2008 Campaign 7
5 Fired US Attorneys 3
6 Iraq Policy Debate 3
7 US Domestic Terrorism 2
8 Space Station 2
9 Iran 2
10 CIA Leak/Libby Sentence 2

Three topics were covered in each media: Immigration, Palestinian conflict and events in Iraq.

Beyond those three, it’s interesting to see what each covered that did not make the list above:

Newspapers: U.S. economic numbers, Sopranos TV show, same-sex marriage

Online: TB traveler, Afghanistan, U.S./Russia relations, Beirut bombing, U.S. economic
numbers

Network TV: Duke Lacrosse scandal

Cable TV: Paris Hilton, Duke Lacrosse scandal, LA hospital death case

Radio: Global warming, Sopranos TV show, hurricane season

In the chapter entitled “What is Journalism For?” in The Elements of Journalism,
the authors say, “The increasingly interactive relationship between journalist and
citizen has raised questions in newsrooms about whether journalists still have a role as agenda setters - trying to signal to the audience what news is important, the top stories.”

I was feeling pretty bummed out about the quality of the news available to us, but it was somewhat comforting to find this information.

It looks like journalists are doing a pretty good job, after all. It also points out how important it is that we, as critically thinking citizens, fulfill our responsibility to look through this smorgasbord of news.