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Project for Excellence in Journalism
Egypt Overwhelms News Agenda
Last week's turmoil in the Middle East registered as the biggest international story in the past four years- -- surpassing any coverage of the Iraq war, the Haiti earthquake and the conflict in Afghanistan.
From Jan. 31-Feb. 6, the Middle East saga, driven by televised images of the protests and power struggle in Egypt, filled 56% of the newshole studied by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. Not only was that easily the biggest overseas story in a single week since PEJ began its News Coverage Index in January 2007. It registered as the fourth-biggest story of any kind -- trailing only two weeks in the 2008 presidential campaign and the aftermath of the Jan. 8, 2011 Tucson shooting spree.
Until now, the biggest international story of any single week (43%) was the Iraq war from Sept. 9-14, 2007. And most of that was driven by the domestic policy debate over the war -- including Gen. David Petraeus' progress report to Congress and a speech by President George W. Bush. The Haiti earthquake that killed as many as an estimated quarter million people filled 41% of the newshole from Jan. 11-17, 2010.
The closest parallel to the Egyptian unrest last week in the last four years were the widespread protests that followed the disputed Iranian elections -- and they accounted for only half as much coverage (28%) from June 15-21, 2009 as the Egyptian protests did last week. The biggest week of coverage of the war in Afghanistan in the past four years (27%) occurred from Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2009 when President Obama announced a surge of 30,000 additional troops.
Why has an event that has not involved U.S. troops or directly imperiled U.S. citizens generated significantly more attention than the country's two wars? One major reason is the number of cameras and journalists (including network anchors) in the country transmitting such riveting scenes as last week's video of men on camels attacking crowds of protestors in Cairo. Another is the high stakes for the U.S. in one of the world's most volatile regions as it tries to balance a strategic alliance with President Hosni Mubarak and support of pro-democracy protestors. A third factor may be uncertainty -- will Mubarak resign and who will govern after him? And some of last week's coverage was driven by the fact that the media themselves became part of the story -- with journalists being harassed, attacked and detained amid the chaos.
Even though the Obama administration's handling of the situation to date has not produced a major partisan battle in Washington, the story still devoured 84% of the airtime studied on the ideological cable talk shows -- which are often crucial to keeping a story soaring at high altitude. Indeed some of those hosts last week were more willing than many public officials to voice strong opinions on the subject.
Every other news event last week was overwhelmed. The No. 2 story, well back at 8%, was the blizzard that pounded the Midwest, making this the second week in a row that bad winter weather was among the top five news stories. Next, at 7%, was coverage of the health care reform debate, fueled by the news that a Florida judge had ruled that the new legislation was unconstitutional. The economy followed, as the No. 4 story at 5%, followed by continuing coverage of the recent Arizona shootings, at 2%.