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20% - Amount of Coverage of the 2012 Presidential Campaign since October 1 

Thus far in 2011, (from January 1 through December 11), the presidential campaign, defined by the Republican nomination battle, has accounted for 9% of the overall newshole. That is slightly less than the amount of coverage (10%) devoted to the presidential campaign for the same period four years earlier, when about twice as many candidates were running and the nominations in both parties were up for grabs.

But those overall numbers tell only part of the story. After a sluggish start to campaign coverage early in 2011, attention to the campaign in the past quarter has spiked dramatically and outstripped coverage of the 2008 campaign for the same period four years ago.

The past few months, starting on October 1, have seen a number of dramatic developments in the Republican race including problems for former frontrunner Rick Perry's campaign, the stunning rise and fall of Herman Cain and the dramatic resurgence of Newt Gingrich to the top of the polls. From October 1-December, 11, the campaign accounted for 20% of the overall newshole, edging out the U.S. economy as the No. 1 story.

In that same time frame in 2007, the presidential contest filled 16% of the newshole.   

Coverage of the campaign during the middle of 2011-from April 1 through September 30-registered at 8% of the newshole, which was just slightly behind the coverage in that same period four years ago, which was 9%.

Coverage in 2011 really spiked in June of this year (12% that month) as almost all the Republican hopefuls entered the race, but then fell significantly in July (3% that month) as the media focused on the Congressional battle over the debt crisis. By August, however, attention had risen to 9% and has climbed steadily since.

The biggest difference in the amount of coverage devoted to the 2012 and 2008 campaigns occurred early in the year. In the first quarter of 2011 (January 1 through March 31), coverage of the presidential race (1% of the newshole) was far behind where it was (7%) for the corresponding period four years ago.  In early 2007, both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama entered the 2008 campaign, raising the possibility of the nation electing its first female or African-American president, which helped drive coverage. In 2011, the main contenders were slower to announce their candidacies.

Tricia Sartor of PEJ

95% - Drop in news coverage of Sarah Palin from May to December 2011

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who has repeatedly proven her ability to generate media attention over the past few years, has virtually disappeared from the headlines since her October 5 announcement that she would not seek the presidency in 2012.

In the early stages of the 2012 campaign—from May through early October—Palin ranked No. 4 in the competition for news coverage among the Republican presidential hopefuls even though she had not entered the race and many observers largely discounted the possibility. In that period, only Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney and Rick Perry were the subject of more news coverage.

A good chunk of that campaign-related coverage came in May and June, when Palin was the No. 2 and No. 3 Republican newsmaker respectively, registering as a dominant figure in 12% of the campaign stories in each month. (To be a dominant newsmaker, someone must be featured in at least 50% of a story.

Her coverage dropped in July (a dominant newsmaker in 3% of the stories), August (5%), and September (3%), but she was still capable of generating headlines, most particularly when she would hint about running for the White House.  But in the two months since Palin announced she would not seek the presidency, coverage of her has almost vanished. In both October and November, she was a dominant newsmaker in only 1% of the campaign stories.

Ever since John McCain selected Palin as his surprise running mate in August 2008, the former Alaska governor has been a familiar figure in the media, a seemingly irresistible story for political journalists and commentators. In both 2008 and 2009, she finished as the fifth-leading newsmaker. And she registered as the No. 2 newsmaker, behind President Obama, in 2010, when she confirmed that she was considering a run for president in 2012.

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No. 4 - Rank of the Penn State scandal among biggest crime stories since January 2007

The sexual abuse scandal rocking Penn State and shocking the nation—triggered by the arrest of former defensive football coach Jerry Sandusky on charges of sexually abusing young boys over a 15-year period—was the No. 2 story in the news media from November 7-13. With coverage building as the scandal mushroomed, leading to the firing of the school’s president and its iconic 46-year head football coach, Joe Paterno, the story accounted for 16.9% of the newshole, trailing only the presidential campaign (24%).  

That makes the Penn State saga, the fourth biggest U.S. crime story since PEJ began tracking news coverage in January 2007—although it received a fraction of the coverage of the top two stories. (Not counting acts of terrorism or political scandals.)

The No. 1 crime story since 2007 was the January 8, 2011, shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Jared Lee Loughner opened fire on the representative and shot 19 people—killing six—in a Safeway parking lot in Tucson Arizona. The event accounted for 56.6% of the newshole from January 10-16, 2011. (This past week, Giffords talked about her long recovery from those grave injuries in a TV interview.)

The second-most covered crime story was the April 16, 2007, massacre on the campus of Virginia Tech when Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people before taking his own life. That tragedy accounted for 50.9% of the newshole the week April 15-20, 2007.

Just ahead of the Penn State scandal, the third-biggest crime story was the July 5, 2011, acquittal of Casey Anthony who was accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee three years prior. The verdict stunned much of the nation and the story accounted for 17.3% of the newshole the week of July 4-10, 2011.

Rounding out the top five crime stories was the September 16, 2007 arrest of O.J. Simpson for armed robbery and kidnapping while trying to retrieve sports memorabilia at a Las Vegas Hotel. The story filled 13.5% of the newshole the week of September 16-21. Simpson is serving 33 years for the charges.

Tricia Sartor of PEJ

About the News Coverage Index

2010 Year in the News Interactive

96% - Drop in media coverage of the Iraq War from 2007 to 2011

President Obama’s announcement, on October 21, that all troops will be out of Iraq by the end of this year, made news by formally marking the end of that conflict. It also evoked surprise and criticism from those who fear the country could fall into the hands of extremists or under Iranian influence.

The timetable was not entirely new. Three years ago, President George Bush signed a treaty setting December 31, 2011 as the target date for full withdrawal of U.S. troops, and Obama made that deadline part of his campaign for president.

But the decision for complete withdrawal went further than some expected. It also made Iraq a major story, something it had not been in more than a year.

Coverage of the Iraq War developments accounted for 4.6% of the newshole last week (October 17-23) making it the highest week of Iraq War coverage since August 30-September 5, 2010 when the final combat troops were removed from Iraq. That earlier announcement drew nearly twice as much media attention—8.4%--as last week’s decision.

Last week’s jump in coverage runs counter to a long and clear trend. Media attention to the war has declined dramatically since the News Coverage Index began measuring it back in January 2007.

Iraq was the top story overall in 2007, accounting for 15.4% of the newshole that year, according to PEJ’s analysis, as Congress and President Bush battled for control of Iraq policy. But as the U.S. drew down troops, and the domestic policy debate subsided, American media outlets also withdrew reporters from Iraq, and attention to the war has declined by more than 95% percent since 2007. For 2011 so far, the Iraq has filled 0.6% of the newshole, less than the attention to the trial of Casey Anthony or the Mexican Drug War.

Tricia Sartor of PEJ

About the News Coverage Index

2010 Year in the News Interactive

10:7 - Ratio of the biggest week of Occupy Wall Street coverage to the top week of Tea Party coverage

The Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street are two protest movements with different tactics and philosophies that have both been able to capture media attention.  But the level and timing of that attention has varied.

The Occupy Wall Street protests in New York began on September 17, 2011. Coverage first registered in PEJ's weekly News Coverage Index from September 26-October 2, when the protests filled 2% of the newshole, due in part to a widely circulated video of a police officer pepper spraying female protesters.

Attention continued to rise the following week (7% of the newshole from October 3-9) as the protests began to spread and 700 people were arrested while attempting to march across the Brooklyn Bridge. From October 10-16, coverage increased again, to 10%, as the protests became more politicized in the U.S. while expanding to a reported 900 cities around the globe. 

How does this compare to coverage of the Tea Party protests?

The first time the Tea Party demonstrations showed up in the NCI was April 13-19, 2009, the week of a major national protest marking tax day. The story accounted for 7% of the newshole then, making it the single biggest week of coverage of any Tea Party-related story.

The next biggest week of attention to the Tea Party occurred one year later, when protests marking tax day accounted for 6% of the newshole from April 12-18, 2010. The third-biggest week of coverage (3%) occurred from July 12-18, 2010, when a controversy erupted after the NAACP condemned what it called racist elements within the Tea Party. 

Tea Party coverage also accounted for 3% of the newshole from April 19-25, 2010-the week after the tax day protests-based on a variety of storylines. They include a debate about whether the Tea Party was getting too much media attention as well as remarks by former president Bill Clinton comparing current harsh anti-government rhetoric with the kind of things being said at the time of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.

In assessing the amounts of coverage devoted to Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party, it's worth noting that the main Tea Party protests were one-day events while the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations have gone on for more than a month. In addition, the Tea Party and its goals have become part of the nation's political narrative and now generate ongoing coverage, not simply when there are major events or protests.

Tricia Sartor of PEJ