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47% - Drop in media coverage of Obama’s 2012 SOTU compared to 2011

President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union (SOTU) address accounted for 8.9% of the newshole from January 23-29—making it the second biggest story of the week, well behind the presidential race (32.7%). That level of attention represents a significant drop-off from his previous SOTUs, which, on average, accounted for 15.4% of the weekly newshole.

A look back at State of the Union speeches since PEJ began the News Coverage Index in January 2007 reveals that two of those speeches generated less media attention than the others. And both came during a presidential election year.

The week of January 22-28, 2008—when George Bush delivered his last state of the Union Address—the speech accounted for only 6.3% of the newshole while the 2008 election accounted for a full 50%. As was the case with Obama last week, the SOTU was overshadowed by coverage of the campaign to see who will deliver the next one.

The most covered SOTU in recent years was Obama’s speech in 2010, which accounted for 18.9% and registered as the top story that week. The number two story was the economy (17.6%), with the media speculating about whether Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke would be re-appointed.

In 2011, Obama’s speech was the No. 2 story at 16.7%, modestly trailing coverage of Mideast turmoil (20.1%) that was fueled by intensifying Egyptian protests against the government of Hosni Mubarak.

President Bush’s 2007 address came next at 12.6% of the coverage, but it was overshadowed by attention to the Iraq war (23.5%), which was primarily focused on the Iraq policy debate unfolding in Washington.

Obama’s 2009 prime-time speech (which was not technically a State of the Union speech but had the same import) accounted for 10.5% of the newshole the week of February 23-March 1, 2009.  It generated far less coverage that week than the recession-wracked economy, at 37.7%.

But even so, coverage of that 2009 address exceeded the levels in 2008 and 2012 when the media were occupied with the contest to find the next occupant of the White House.

Tricia Sartor of PEJ

80% - Drop in Economy coverage from July 2011 to January 2012

The weakening economy was the biggest story in the media in 2011, accounting for one-fifth of the entire newshole, a jump from the year before. The race for the presidency accounted for about half that much, 9% (go to the 2011 interactive).

Towards the end of 2011 and into 2012, attention to those two issues crossed.

The campaign overtook the economy in November (economy coverage accounted for 18% and campaign accounted for 20%), when allegations about sexual harassment by Herman Cain became a major subject. Coverage of the campaign has only gained steam since. Thus far in 2012, the campaign has accounted for nearly half, 46%, of the newshole according to PEJ’s News Coverage Index.

Much of that coverage has come in place of attention that was being paid to the economy.

From July 2011 to January 2012, the level of attention paid to the state of the economy has dropped by 80%. And that drop mirrors the increase in political coverage.

While some of the election coverage has focused on candidates’ plans for the economy, that coverage is different, and as a component of all political coverage it doesn’t come close to the decline in economic reporting.

Tricia Sartor of PEJ

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