Election News Tops Public Interest and Coverage

With a critical Republican primary in Florida, the 2012 presidential campaign was the public’s top story last week, closely followed by news about the economy.

About a quarter (23%) say they followed news about the candidates for president most closely. Another 18% say the economy was their top story. Nearly as many (15%) say they followed news about the Super Bowl more closely than any other news, according to the latest weekly News Interest Index survey, conducted Feb. 2-5 among 1,006 adults by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. The presidential campaign was by far the most covered story, accounting for 36% of the newshole, according to a separate analysis by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ). News about the economy accounted for 10% of coverage, while the Super Bowl accounted for 2%.