Economy was top story of 2010

The economy was the most-covered news story of 2010, garnering 14 percent of the news hole, according to data released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill, another business and economic related story, was No. 3 with 7 percent of the news hole.

The study states, “By year’s end, the economy registered among the top four stories every week studied by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism in its weekly News Coverage Index. And the attention given the story was remarkably consistent. Economic news accounted for between 13% and 17% of the overall coverage studied in every quarter of 2010.

“Yet, it was often overshadowed by bigger breaking news events. Although it was the first or second story 39 weeks out of 50, the economy filled more than 30% of the news studied only once. Health care, the election and the oil spill together passed that threshold nine times.

“For its part, the public paid keen attention to the nervous economic news. The news media’s No. 1 story of the year consistently generated high levels of attention among news consumers, even as the major breaking stories of 2010 garnered more public interest for many weeks this year.”

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