Economy Drives News Narrative

month into the Obama administration, the economic crisis appears to shifting from Job One to the worsening mega story of 2009. There were shifting elements in that crisis narrative last week. But the underlying message may be the frightening breadth and depth of the problem. From February 16-22, coverage of the growing financial turmoil accounted for 40% of the newshole as measured by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism—the fourth week in a row it has reached or exceeded 40%. That represents a modest drop from 47% the week of Feb. 9-15. But those numbers don't tell the whole story.