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Project for Excellence in Journalism
IMF Chief Arrest Leads News, but Politics Looms Large
An alleged sexual assault with international ramifications was the No. 1 topic in the mainstream media last week. But two other stories connected to domestic politics combined for nearly a quarter of the newshole, as coverage of the 2012 presidential campaign reached a high water mark.
From May 16-22, the No. 1 story (at 15%) was the May 15 arrest of International Monetary Fund head Dominique Strauss-Kahn on rape charges, according to the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. The stunning news about the man the media quickly dubbed "DSK" had news organizations chronicling every bounce in his fall from grace.
With Donald Trump and Mike Huckabee opting out of the race and Newt Gingrich getting in, the presidential campaign was the No. 3 story, accounting for 11% of the newshole and reaching double digits for the first time this year. As usual, it received more play on cable (24%) and radio (20%), two sectors where political debate and opinion tend to dominate.
The No. 2 story was about an international situation, but it also took on domestic political overtones. Coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (11%) was marked by President Obama's May 19 speech on the Middle East that was quickly condemned by Republicans -- thus setting up one of the foreign policy battles for 2012. Last week marked the most media attention to the Israel-Palestine situation since May 31-June 6, 2010, when Israel's interdiction of a flotilla headed toward Gaza, which resulted in the deaths of nine people, filled 13% of the newshole.
The week's fourth-biggest story was the U.S. economy (9%), with the media continuing to monitor the debate in Washington over spending, triggered anew by the federal government officially hitting its debt limit on Tuesday.
Finally, the death of Osama bin Laden continued to make news at 7% of the newshole. But it is quickly falling off the media map. One week earlier, the subject had filled 24% of the newshole, which was down dramatically from 69% three weeks ago.