{"id":90738,"date":"2007-06-04T00:00:01","date_gmt":"2007-06-04T05:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2007\/06\/04\/pej-news-coverage-index-may-27-june-1-2007\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T04:12:33","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T09:12:33","slug":"pej-news-coverage-index-may-27-june-1-2007","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2007\/06\/04\/pej-news-coverage-index-may-27-june-1-2007\/","title":{"rendered":"The Infamous \u2018TB Traveler\u2019 is the Top Story"},"content":{"rendered":"
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During a televised press conference on May 29, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) director Dr. Julie Gerberding informed the nation that a man carrying a very dangerous form of drug-resistant tuberculosis may have infected passengers aboard several cross-Atlantic flights in May. <\/p>\n\n

Because this \u201corganism is so potentially serious\u2026a federal order of isolation\u201d had been issued for the unnamed infected man, Gerberding explained. It was the first such federal action, she added, in more than 40 years. <\/p>\n\n

<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n

Only three days later, on June 1, that mystery man\u2014also known as \u201cPatient Zero\u201d\u2014gave an exclusive interview to Diane Sawyer on ABC\u2019s \u201cGood Morning America.\u201d Wearing a white mask over his mouth, Andrew Speaker, a 31-year-old Atlanta lawyer confined to a Denver hospital, had a message for those who accused him of being a modern day Typhoid Mary. <\/p>\n\n

[Doctors]<\/p>\n\n\n

Speaker\u2019s overseas odyssey struck a number of sensitive and critical chords last week. (One doctor told ABC News it was a scenario that \u201ccould have been written by Shakespeare.\u201d) It triggered a global public health scare, placed the CDC at the center of a controversy, raised questions about terrorism preparedness and border security, and touched on the basic issue of personal accountability and morality. <\/p>\n\n

Not surprisingly, the case turned out to be the biggest story of the week, filling 12% of the newshole, according to PEJ\u2019s News Coverage Index from May 27-June 1. <\/span>The TB saga was a top five story in all five media sectors, but it was primarily a television phenomenon. It was the top story in <\/span>both network (16%) and cable TV (24%), although CNN\u2019s prime-time lineup devoted far more time to the subject than Fox\u2019s. And MSNBC\u2019s cable talk lineup virtually ignored the story. <\/p>\n\n

The 2008 Presidential race\u2014the second biggest overall story last week (9%)\u2014was the top event in the newspaper (8%) and radio (15%) sectors. Two major story lines were Republican Fred Thompson inching closer to a formal candidacy and the impact two new books about Hillary Clinton might have on the course of her campaign. <\/p>\n\n

The third biggest story was the situation inside Iraq (7%). But when you add that category together with the impact of the war at home (fourth biggest story at 4%) and the policy debate (seventh biggest story 4%), Iraq combined to account for 15% of all of last week\u2019s coverage. <\/p>\n\n

The continuing debate over immigration policy was the fifth biggest overall subject at 4%. And it was the second leading story on radio where conservative talk hosts continue to hammer away at the May 17 compromise legislation. <\/p>\n\n

Coverage of the sixth biggest story, the conflict with Iran (4%) started off on a mildly optimistic note with news of the May 28 direct talks between Washington and Tehran on the situation in Iraq. But by the end of the week, tensions again ratcheted up as the U.S. issued warnings to Iran\u2019s government about four detained Iranian-Americans and the continuation of its nuclear enrichment program. <\/p>\n\n

PEJ\u2019s News Coverage Index is a study of the news agenda of 48 different outlets from five sectors of the media. (See a List of Outlets.)<\/span><\/a> It is designed to provide news consumers, journalists and researchers with hard data about what stories and topics the media are covering, the trajectories of major stories and differences among news platforms. (See Our Methodology.)<\/span><\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n\n

<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

From the moment the news about the TB flight scare broke on May 29, events moved at a brisk pace with new angles regularly revealing themselves. On her May 30 show, CNN\u2019s Paula Zahn interviewed homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve about how the infected lawyer managed to elude authorities in an era when there are serious concerns about everything from bioterrorism to a bird flu pandemic.<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s incredibly frightening and embarrassing,\u201d said Zahn. \u201cWhat if this had been smallpox?\u201d<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

By May 31, the media reported on another new and surprising wrinkle in the tale. It was learned that Speaker\u2019s new father-in-law, Dr. Robert Cooksey, works as a tuberculosis researcher for the CDC.<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

NBC\u2019s Brian Williams led his newscast with what he called \u201ca huge twist\u201d in a story that has become \u201can even more bizarre tale tonight.\u201d The report included footage of Cooksey\u2014who denied having anything to do with Speaker\u2019s infection\u2014issuing a statement warning the media \u201cnot to hype this because it is a very complicated situation.\u201d<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

The next morning, as Speaker emerged from the shadows in his interview with Sawyer, the New York Times published a front-page story describing how the tuberculosis victim managed to cross back into the <\/span>U.S.<\/span> from <\/span>Canada<\/span> by car despite the warning that had been issued to border agents.<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

By Friday evening, the story had evolved to the point where the blame game was in full swing. On his June 1 Fox News Channel show, Sean Hannity put it bluntly. <\/span> <\/p>\n\n

<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

\u201cSo who\u2019s to blame for the fiasco, the Speakers or the CDC?\u201d Hannity said. \u201cHe was repeatedly told that that he was not infectious\u2026I blame the CDC.\u201d<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

[ing]<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

If nothing else, this complex saga also says something about television\u2019s growing power as a witness box in the court of public opinion. Not too long ago, one could envision someone like Speaker\u2014who says he\u2019s received considerable hate mail\u2014lying low until media and public interest died down. Not only did he choose to tell his story to ABC\u2019s Sawyer last week. This week, he\u2019s scheduled to chat with the primary practitioner of <\/span>prime-time schmooze, CNN\u2019s Larry King. <\/span> <\/p>\n\n

<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

Even as the media seemed preoccupied with Speaker\u2019s story last week, there were several significant events driving coverage of the war in <\/span>Iraq<\/span>. The situation on the ground inside <\/span>Iraq<\/span> was punctuated by several sobering milestones. After a bloody Memorial Day on which 10 <\/span>U.S.<\/span> troops were killed, May 2007 became the third deadliest month in the four-year-old war for American military personnel.<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

One of the stories fueling interest in the war on the homefront was the announcement by anti-war protestor Cindy Sheehan that she was stepping away from the movement, at least temporarily. In a May 29 interview with liberal radio talk host Ed Schultz, Sheehan said she had been deeply \u201caffected\u201d by the May 24 Congressional vote to continue funding the war without troop withdrawal timetables. It\u2019s \u201ctime to reevaluate the direction we\u2019re going in,\u201d she told Schultz. \u201cObviously, the direction we\u2019re going has stopped being effective.\u201d<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

Coverage of the <\/span>Iraq<\/span> policy debate featured a number of issues including a May 30 report on CNN\u2019s \u201cSituation Room\u201d that the administration might be considering a lengthy, perhaps decades-long, troop presence in <\/span>Iraq<\/span>. Host Wolf Blitzer stated that the White House was \u201craising eyebrows\u201d by citing \u201cthe <\/span>U.S.<\/span> presence in <\/span>South Korea<\/span> as a possible model for the future of the <\/span>U.S.<\/span> mission in <\/span>Iraq<\/span>.\u201d Blitzer pointed out that there are currently 28,000 <\/span>U.S.<\/span> troops in <\/span>South Korea<\/span>, a remnant of a war that ended more than five decades ago.<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

Several initiatives by President Bush became major news events last week. The ninth biggest story (at 2%) was triggered by the President\u2019s announcement of additional sanctions designed to get the Sudanese government to halt the violence in <\/span>Darfur<\/span>. The eighth biggest story (global warming at 2%) was largely a reaction to Bush\u2019s decision, in advance of this week\u2019s G-8 Summit, to call for an international effort to reduce greenhouse gases. <\/span> <\/p>\n\n

<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

The President\u2019s move triggered a fairly lively media debate about whether the <\/span>U.S.<\/span> is now seriously embracing some of the more aggressive environmental policies of many of its allies. A June 1 story in the Austin American-Statesman reported on the administration\u2019s greenhouse gas initiative, but also published critics\u2019 complaints that the President is \u201cignoring other international efforts on climate change that are already under way and is trying to avoid taking action until he leaves office.\u201d<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

<\/span> <\/p>\n\n

Mark Jurkowitz of PEJ <\/em> <\/p>\n\n

Note: MSNBC did not run any of its normal programming on Monday, May 28, due to the Memorial Day holiday. Therefore, we did not include any of MSNBC’s Monday shows in this week’s sample. <\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h6>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There was a grim milestone for U.S. troops in Iraq and one potential GOP presidential hopeful moved closer to making it official. 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