News Interest vs. News Coverage Health care reform
Americans followed the health care debate more closely than any other news story last week as Senate Democrats struggled to find a compromise that would allow them to move legislation through their chamber despite strong Republican opposition.
About three-in-ten (31%) say the health care debate was the story they followed most closely, while 19% say they followed reports about the U.S. economy more closely than any other story. More than four-in-ten (42% each) say they followed news about these topics very closely, according to the Pew Research Center’s latest weekly News Interest Index, conducted Dec. 11-14 among 1,024 adults.
The economy and the health care debate also were the week’s top stories in terms of coverage. According to a separate analysis by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, stories about the economic crisis made up 16% of the newshole, while stories about the health care debate made up 14%.
News Interest vs. News Coverage  | Health care reform  | 31  | 19  | 16  | Economy  | CONTERTICALLY 5 3  | 12  | Afghanistan  | Obama it's Nobel Prize  | Climate change conf  | Pakistani arrests  | Interest: percent who named story as most closely followed  | Coverage percent of news coverage devoted to story 