Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Project for Excellence in Journalism
Election Returns
Last week's culmination of the hotly contested 2010 midterm elections proved to be the biggest story in two years, filling 57% of the newshole from Nov. 1-7, according to the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.
Indeed, coverage of the historic election -- which turned control of the U.S. House of Representatives over to Republicans and was characterized as a "shellacking" by President Obama -- registered as the fourth-biggest weekly story since PEJ began its News Coverage Index in January 2007. The others all involved the 2008 presidential campaign. The Democrats' nominating convention and the surprise announcement of Sarah Palin as the GOP vice presidential nominee filled 69% of the newshole from Aug. 25-31, 2008. As the media scrambled to become acquainted with Palin, the story filled 58% from Sept. 1-7, 2008. And on the week that Obama became the nation's 44th president (November 3-9, 2008), election-related themes filled a whopping 76% of the newshole.
Last week, as Republicans gained about 60 seats in the House and six in the Senate, the narrative shifted away from the numbers to bigger questions. Analysts painted a picture of a weary, angry and divided electorate, and questioned the prospects for compromise and a working relationship between the chastened president and a new Republican leadership in the House.
The Tea Party, which generated considerable media attention in the run-up to the voting, took something of a back seat in the post-election coverage. In some of the races that generated significant coverage -- the Nevada and Alaska Senate contests, for example -- the media narrative pointed to the problems for Tea Party candidates Sharron Angle and Joe Miller.
No other story last week generated more than a fraction of the attention paid to the election. The state of the U.S. economy was No. 2 and made up 7% of the week's news as October labor statistics revealed little change in the nation's dismal employment situation.
Two bombs found in cargo planes on Oct. 29, whose origins were traced to Yemen and whose destination was the U.S., remained the No. 3 news subject last week, filling 5% of the newshole.
At No. 4 was the Haiti-bound Tropical Storm Tomas, which triggered coverage enumerating the woes of a country beset by natural disasters, disease and political upheaval. The storm, which did minimal damage to Haiti, made up 2% of the week's coverage.
Finally, a post-election presidential trip to Asia -- including India and Indonesia -- made the news at No. 5 (2%). Unfortunately for Obama, however, much of the coverage focused on rumors that the trip would cost taxpayers $200 million a day, an allegation debunked by numerous media outlets.
Continue reading the full report at journalism.org.