Iran’s Intermittent Coverage

1.7% - Percentage of Iran coverage from January 1, 2007 through July 19, 2008

Protests erupted in support of Iranian opposition candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi following his defeat in the June 12 presidential election. The government crackdown on demonstrators quickly turned violent, and for the week of June 15–21, 2009, Iran was the most-covered story in the media, filling 27.5% of the overall newshole. It was the top story again the following week, June 22–28, at 18.8% of the newshole. But the protests began to abate and Michael Jackson’s death consumed the media’s attention, so by the week of June 29–July 5, coverage had plunged to 3.6% of the newshole.  Since then, Iran has accounted for only 1.4% of the overall coverage.

That latest spurt of Iran coverage reflects a larger trend that has emerged since PEJ began its News Coverage Index in January 2007. Despite Iran’s strategic importance, simmering tensions between Iran and the U.S. and concerns over its nuclear program, that nation only sporadically generates significant interest from the U.S. media. From January 1, 2007, through July 19, 2009, Iran has filled only 1.7% of the overall newshole. Coverage tends to spike around a specific event and then dissipates quickly—often for long periods of time.

The first jump in Iran coverage occurred in the week of February 11-16, 2007, when the country’s suspected involvement in the Iraq war fed worries of a possible conflict with the U.S. That week, the story accounted for 7.5% of the newshole. The next jump occurred in the weeks of March 25-30 (12.2% of the newshole) and April 1-6, 2007 (12.9%) when 15 British sailors were seized by Iran, triggering a brief hostage crisis.

It would be several months before the next big leap in attention as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s controversial visit to New York filled 13.2% of the newshole from September 23-28, 2007. Late that year, a U.S. intelligence report contending that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program made major news (11.0%) the week of December 1-7, 2007. One other significant week of coverage tied to Iran’s military capability occurred from July 7-13, 2008 when news of new Iranian missile tests filled 5.0% of the newshole.

Tricia Sartor and Dana Page of PEJ