The Scent of Scandal Makes Gonzales the Big Story

THE SCENT OF SCANDAL MAKES GONZALES THE BIG STORY
[SOURCE: Project for Excellence in Journalism, AUTHOR: Mark Jurkowitz]
The fallout over the firing of the eight U.S. attorneys was not only the biggest story last week, March 18-23, it really amounts at this point to a mega story. Filling 18% of the overall newshole, it was the second-biggest story of the year. The only one to receive more coverage was the debate over the Iraq war, which filled 34% of the newshole the week in January when President Bush announced his troop “surge” plan. Already the level of coverage of the U.S. attorneys flap has substantially exceeded that of two other major Washington scandals—the Scooter Libby trial and conditions at Walter Reed Army Hospital. It also was a big story across the media spectrum last week, the top subject in four of the five media sectors—newspapers, network TV, cable TV, and radio. And the subject attracted considerably more attention than other major stories last week, including the Iraq policy debate (second at 12%), the violence inside Iraq (third at 9%), the 2008 presidential race (fourth at 7%), and the Iraq war at home (fifth at 4%).
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