The Economy Again Drove News Narrative

The news narrative shifted significantly last week as the stress tests for troubled banks overshadowed a flu outbreak that suddenly seemed less stressful. The release of the financial health reports of 19 major banks helped make the economic crisis the top story from May 4-10, according to the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. The economy's health filled 21% of the newshole studied in PEJ's weekly News Coverage Index during the week. That's double the coverage of the previous week and the most attention the financial meltdown has received in the 55 media outlets included in the NCI in six weeks. Two related subjects, the President's plan to crack down on overseas tax havens and the troubled auto industry, filled about another 8% of the newshole.