Giant Rat Tops 'Mainlystreamed' Media

A giant rat and a noisy elephant were the top stories on the blogs last week (Sept. 7-11).

That is according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism’s New Media Index, not to be confused with its old media index (actually the News Coverage Index), which deals with the mainstream, rather than mainly-streamed, media.

The story of the rat, discovered in a “lost volcano” in Papua, New Guinea, claimed 20% of blog links, beating out health care, the president’s back-to-school speech, and other less giant ratlike topics.

The rat joins a long line of offbeat stories that have been among the leaders ins blog news links in the suvey. Others included stories that the blue die on M&M’s might help treat spine injuries, and a giant man-eating plant.

Number two, healthcare, was driven by the “you lie” outburst by Republican Rep. Joe Wilson during the president’s speech.