News Interest vs News Coverage California fires Situation in Iraq 12
The California wildfires overshadowed all other news stories last week both in terms of public interest and news coverage. Four-in-ten Americans followed news about the fires very closely, making it the fourth most closely followed news story of the year. The only stories that have attracted a larger audience this year were rising gas prices in May, the Virginia Tech shootings in April, and the Minnesota bridge collapse in August. Nearly half of the public (46%) listed the California fires as the single news story they followed more closely than any other last week.
Comprising 38% of the national newshole, the wildfires became the second most heavily covered news story of 2007. Only the Virginia Tech shootings surpassed the fires in terms of overall news coverage. The fires were covered more intensely on television news outlets than on other sectors — 53% of network TV news and 51% of cable news was devoted to the story.
News Interest vs News Coverage  | October 21-26  | California fires  | 46  | 38  | Situation in Iraq 12  | World Series  | 10  | 2008 Campaign  | Us-Iran tensions  | Iraq policy  | Interest: percent who followed this story most closely  | Coverage: percent of news coverage devoted to story 