The Iraq War, with Many Subplots, Dominates the News;

THE IRAQ WAR, WITH MANY SUBPLOTS, DOMINATE THE NEWS
[SOURCE: Project for Excellence in Journalism, AUTHOR: Mark Jurkowitz]
The controversy generated by former CIA Director George Tenet’s new book was the fourth biggest story last week, filling 5% of the overall newshole, according to PEJ’s News Coverage Index from April 29 through May 4. But the Tenet tempest was really part of a bigger subject -- the conflict in Iraq -- that continues to dominate the media landscape like no other issue, and which last week spawned many different story lines. The internal U.S. debate over Iraq policy was the week’s second biggest story, at 12% while the situation inside Iraq was the third leading story at 7%. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s delicate diplomatic tango with Syria (she talked to its foreign minister) and Iran (she didn’t meet with its foreign minister) at last week’s conference on Iraq’s future was the sixth biggest story (4%). The impact of the Iraq war on the American homefront, while failing to make the top story list, attracted 1% of the overall coverage. All combined, those five Iraq-related stories accounted for 29% of the news coverage last week, clearly making the war the dominant broad theme.
http://www.journalism.org/node/5463