The Year in News 2010

On April 20, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded several dozen miles off the Louisiana Coast, killing 11 people. By the time the gushing leak was finally stanched, the BP oil spill had emerged as the No. 3 story of the year (7% of the newshole).

The Gulf oil spill was a slow-motion catastrophe that ran counter to the typical pattern of “one-week wonder” coverage, when the media descend on a disaster en masse and depart soon after. For the first 100 days after the rig explosion, the spill was easily the nation’s top story, at 22% of the newshole, as the media pursued three major storylines—events in the Gulf, the role of BP and the role of the Obama Administration.

Indeed the oil spill—when combined with other major events such as the devastating Haiti earthquake, the West Virginia mine accident that killed 29 and the Chilean mine drama that led to the rescue of 33—made 2010 a year of disasters.

The broad category of accidents and disasters accounted for 8% of the overall coverage in 2010, quadrupling the 2009 coverage (2%). By way of comparison, disasters—both man-made and natural—generated almost as much attention in 2010 as foreign news directly involving the U.S.

The earthquake in Haiti, which struck on January 12 and began as the dominant story of the new year, filled 21% of the newshole studied over the next four weeks. And although Haiti did not remain atop the news agenda for nearly as long as the oil spill, it too defied the “one-week wonder” pattern. For the year, the earthquake, whose effects remain a story, filled 2% of the newshole.

Two other significant 2010 disaster stories fit that traditional coverage mold more closely. The April 5 explosion that killed 29 at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia was the No. 1 story (17%) the week of April 5-11. By the following week, it had plunged to 3%. And the joyous rescue of the 33 Chilean miners was the No. 2 story from October 11-17, at 21% of the newshole. One week later, however, it was largely forgotten by the media (1%), perhaps further proof of the adage that good news is no news.