News Coverage vs. News Interest Gulf Coast oil leak 33
Americans tracked the worsening oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico more closely than other major news stories last week, while the media focused on both the underwater oil leak and the investigation into the attempted car bombing in New York’s Times Square.
A third of the public (33%) says they most closely followed news about the oil leak now threatening the coasts of several southeastern states. Fewer say they followed news about the Times Square investigation (13%) or the new Arizona immigration law (16%) more closely than any other story, according to the latest News Interest Index survey, conducted May 7-10 among 1,006 adults by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
In terms of coverage, the media devoted 25% of the newshole to the Times Square investigation and 20% to the Gulf Coast oil leak, according to a separate analysis by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ).
News Coverage vs. News Interest  | Gulf Coast oil leak 33  | 20  | Arizona immig law  | 16  | 2  | Times Sq invest.  | 13  | 25  | Economy  | 8  | Flooding in Nashville  | Greek financial crisis  | Interest: percent who named story as most closely followed  | Coverage: percent of news coverage devoted to story 