News Interest vs. News Coverage Health care 26
The public and the media went their own ways on the news last week. The media kept up heavy coverage of the aftermath of the attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound jet on Christmas Day, while the public focused most closely on the health care debate in Washington.
About a quarter (26%) of Americans say the debate over health care reform was the story they followed most closely, while 17% say they followed news about the government’s response to the attempted terror attack on a Northwest Airlines jet more closely than any other major story.
By another measure, the percentage of Americans saying they followed the government’s response to the failed terror attack “very closely” rivals interest in the other major stories of the week: 37% say they followed this story very closely. Just more than four-in-ten (42%) say they followed news about the harsh winter weather very closely, while 39% each say the same about the economy and the health care debate, according to the latest News Interest Index survey conducted Jan. 8-11 among 1,043 adults nationwide by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
While 26% of Americans say they tracked the debate over health care legislation more closely than any other story last week, coverage of news related to the debate was limited. It accounted for just 4% of the newshole examined by PEJ. News about the economy – the most closely followed story for 17% of the public last week – accounted for 10% of the newshole.
News Interest vs. News Coverage  | Health care 26  | 18  | Weather  | 22  | 17  | Airplane bomb  | 10  | 17  | Economy  | 3  | Afghanistan  | 6  | 8  | 201 Q elections  | Interest: percent who named story as most closely followed  | Coverage: percent of news coverage devoted to story 