Occupy Wall Street Drives Economic Coverage

A series of police crackdowns resulted in the biggest week of Occupy Wall Street media coverage since the protests began two months ago.

And for the second week in a row, the stunning sexual abuse scandal at Penn State University registered as the No. 2 story in the nation. Last week, the U.S. economy was the No. 1 story at 22% of the newshole, with the majority of that coverage focused on the confrontations between protesters, law enforcement, and the city governments that preside over the public spaces that have become encampments. All totaled, the Occupy Wall Street story accounted for 13% of the overall newshole during the week of November 14-20, according to the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. That coverage marked a major spike from the week before when media attention to the protests had dropped to just 1% of the newshole. It surpassed even the week of October 10-16, when the protests, largely focused on income inequality, filled 10% of the newshole as the demonstrations expanded around the country and partisans began turning it into a major political issue. (11/22)