Midterms Dominate News Hole

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The midterm
elections dominated new coverage for the week of Oct. 25-31, according
to the latest Project for Excellent in Journalism News Coverage Index,
with a particular focus on Tea Party candidates
and some internal drama in the Democratic party.

The story
claimed 42% of the news hole, up from 38% the week before and seven
times as much time and space as the number two story. that makes the
election the second biggest story of the year after
health care the week of March 22-28, when the reform bill passed.

The story topped all five media sectors studied, led by cable at 57%, and radio at 56%.

The number
two story was the economy at only 6% of the news hole, followed by the
terrorist plots uncovered (5%), and the oil spill and Afghan war (3%
apiece).

The index is
of approximately 1,000 stories from 52 different outlets across five
sectors: print, online, network TV, and cable and national radio.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.