News Interest vs News Coverage Iraq Interest: percent who followed this story most closely Coverage: percent of news coverage devoted to story
Most Americans feel the press has gone overboard in covering the death of Anna Nicole Smith. Fully 61% believe the Smith story has been overcovered, far more than the number saying that about any other recent story. Even so, a sizable minority (11%) followed Smith’s death more closely than any of last week’s other top stories. This is on par with the number who cited news about the 2008 presidential candidates (13%) or the Super Bowl (11%) as the stories they followed most closely. The war in Iraq was the top story for the week of Feb. 5, with 30% following it most closely.
Data collected since the start of the year suggest that the public and the press are often in agreement about the most important news stories of the day. The Iraq war has consistently been the top-ranked news story both in terms of public interest and press coverage. In the News Interest Index survey for the week of Feb. 5 (conducted Feb. 9-12), 30% of Americans said the situation in Iraq was the story they followed most closely, nearly double the next highest story – winter weather. During that same week, 22% of the news reported across a broad spectrum of media outlets was devoted to the Iraq war (12% to the policy debate and 10% to events on the ground), according to PEJ.
The death of Anna Nicole Smith, which set off a classic media feeding frenzy, may be an instance where press coverage exceeded public demand. Eleven percent of the public said Smith’s death was the news story they followed most closely last week; 9% of the week’s news coverage was devoted to this topic. But because the death occurred mid-week, the full extent of news coverage is not accurately captured by that 9% figure. In the two days immediately following Smith’s death (Feb. 8-9), nearly a quarter of the news from all sectors (24%) was devoted to this story, and fully half of cable news was focused on Smith. The public reacted negatively to the abundance of coverage – 61% feel that the Smith story received too much coverage, compared with just 8% who think it should have received more.
It seems that news coverage of the weather did not match the public’s fascination with it. Record cold temperatures and dramatic snowstorms captured the interest of many Americans this past week – 17% said the weather was their top story, while only 3% of the news coverage was devoted to this topic.
News Interest vs News Coverage  | Week of Februarys  | Iraq  | 22  | 30  | Winter weather  | 3  | 17  | 8  | 2008 Campaign 13  | Anna Nicole Smith  | 11  | Super Bowl  | Astronaut  | Interest: percent who followed this story most closely  | Coverage: percent of news coverage devoted to story 