What Kind of News Do People Really Want?

WHAT KIND OF NEWS DO PEOPLE REALLY WANT?
[SOURCE: AlterNet, AUTHOR: Curtis Brainard, Columbia Journalism Review]
Recent Pew Research Center for People & the Press found that the percentage of people who follow the news "very closely" dropped from thirty percent during the 1980s to twenty-three percent during 1990s -- but then jumped back to thirty percent during the twenty-first century. That swing has less to do with changes in information technology (from broadcast, to cable, to online) than with changes in world events. The dip in public attention during the last decade of the twentieth century was likely the result of relative peace and economic prosperity in the United States. For the first half of this year, stories that elicited significant amounts of coverage, but little public interest, included Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and the firing of eight federal prosecutors, the trial and sentencing of White House aide Scooter Libby, and the criminal charges against astronaut Lisa Nowak. Stories that inspired equally large amounts of coverage and interest included the war in Iraq, the boys kidnapped in Missouri, and search and rescue of the hikers on Mt. Hood. Regarding Iraq, it is interesting to note that the execution of Saddam Hussein provoked equally low levels of coverage and interest. Finally, stories that aroused much more interest than coverage included global warming and inadequate conditions for soldiers and marines at Walter Reed Medical Center. Another finding of particular importance for the immediate future is that, "Even though the recent presidential campaign has attracted higher than normal interest for this stage in the election cycle, audience interest has lagged behind the level of media coverage."
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/61754/