News Interest Vs. News Coverage News Interest News Coverage Economy
Three-in-ten (31%) say they followed news about the condition of the U.S. economy more closely than any other news last week, according to the latest weekly News Interest Index survey, conducted Sept. 22-25 among 1,000 adults by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Another 16% cite the related debate in Washington over jobs and the deficit as their top story.
Adding various story lines together, economic news easily topped coverage as well. News about the economy in general made up 14% of the newshole while news about the debate in Washington over steps the government should take to address the situation accounted for another 13%, according to a separate analysis by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ).
News about the execution of Troy Davis in Georgia also drew significant interest, with 10% saying this was the story they followed most closely. But African Americans tracked the story much more closely than whites or the public as a whole. About two-in-ten African Americans (22%) say this was their top story of the week. That ranked nearly as high as news about the economy (27% most closely). Among whites, just 9% say the execution was their top story. Three times as many (31%) cite the economy as the story they followed most closely.
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