{"id":90755,"date":"2007-04-04T00:00:01","date_gmt":"2007-04-04T05:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2007\/04\/04\/who-didnt-feed-the-frenzy\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T04:12:34","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T09:12:34","slug":"who-didnt-feed-the-frenzy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2007\/04\/04\/who-didnt-feed-the-frenzy\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Didn’t Feed the Frenzy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brian Williams, Katie Couric, and Charlie Gibson all talked about Anna Nicole Smith\u2019s death on their February 8 newscasts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Network Evening News<\/strong>
Percent of Newshole Devoted to Major Stories
Feb 8 – March 2, 2007<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Story<\/strong><\/td>\nCommercial
Networks
<\/strong><\/td>\n		\n

PBS
NewsHour
<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Iraq policy debate<\/td>\n8% <\/td>\n21% <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Iraq homefront<\/td>\n6 <\/td>\n17 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Events in Iraq <\/td>\n10 <\/td>\n6 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Campaign 2008 <\/td>\n5 <\/td>\n3 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Anna Nicole Smith <\/td>\n2 <\/td>\n3 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Source: PEJ News Coverage Index <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

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

And one program did not offer a single utterance on the subject. Public broadcasting\u2019s nightly \u201cNewsHour with Jim Lehrer\u201d spent no time covering Smith\u2019s death and the many legal battles that ensued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Newspapers<\/strong>
Percent of Newshole Devoted to top 5 Stories
Feb 9 – March 2, 2007<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Story<\/strong><\/td>\n%
<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Campaign 2008<\/td>\n8 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Events in Iraq <\/td>\n7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Iran<\/td>\n6 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Iraq Homefront <\/td>\n6 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
North Korea <\/td>\n3 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Source: PEJ News Coverage Index <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

After their initial burst of interest, the 13 newspapers in our sample also dropped the Smith story from Page One, producing a total of only seven front-page stories and about 7,000 words on the subject throughout the more than three weeks. Constituting only 1% of the overall front page newshole, the Smith episode was the 13th biggest newspaper story in that period. It generated less coverage even than the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina or the health care debate. The top three stories in newspapers during the period were the 2008 campaign (8%), events in Iraq (7%) and tensions between the U.S. relations and Iran (6%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Online<\/strong>
Percent of Newshole Devoted to top 6 Stories
Feb 9 – March 2, 2007<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Story<\/strong><\/td>\n%
<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Events in Iraq <\/td>\n13<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Iraq Policy Debate<\/td>\n9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Campaign 2008<\/td>\n9 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Iran <\/td>\n6 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Snowstorms <\/td>\n4 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Anna Nicole Smith<\/td>\n4 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Source: PEJ News Coverage Index <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

Online media and radio news gave the story somewhat more attention, but came nowhere near matching cable\u2019s intensity. Overall, the Web sites examined by PEJ ran 17 pieces on Smith, making it the sixth biggest online story at 4%. It lagged behind the subject of growing tension with Iran and severe winter weather and finished just ahead of U.S. relations with North Korea.<\/p>\n\n

The story also filled 4% of the newshole in radio, where it was the fifth biggest topic, right behind global warming and just ahead of the conflict with Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Radio<\/strong>
Percent of Newshole Devoted to top 5 Stories
Feb 8 – March 2, 2007<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Story<\/strong><\/td>\n%
<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Iraq Policy Debate<\/td>\n21<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Campaign 2008<\/td>\n11<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Events in Iraq<\/td>\n5 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Global Warming <\/td>\n4 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Anna Nicole Smith<\/td>\n4 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Source: PEJ News Coverage Index <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

The radio sector includes a number of both conservative and liberal talkhosts (as well as NPR programming and top-of-the-hour headline reads). But even in a platform that can thrive on scandal and controversy, the events surrounding Smith\u2019s death did not gain serious traction. In the three weeks, the topic filled just 5% of the talk radio menu, getting only about 40 minutes of airtime. And when the radio talkers did address the issue, it was often to criticize what they considered excessive media attention.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cAnother drugged-out starlet collapses and dies and all the news of the world stops,\u201d bellowed conservative host Michael Savage. \u201cFrankly, I\u2019m sick of the news.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

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

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

1.<\/strong> The PEJ Index studies the first half hour of the NewsHour, but for this special report we also studied the transcripts of the second half hour. There were no mentions of Anna Nicole Smith.<\/em> <\/em><\/div>\n\n
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brian Williams, Katie Couric, and Charlie Gibson all talked about Anna Nicole Smith\u2019s death on their February 8 newscasts. Network Evening News Percent of Newshole Devoted to Major StoriesFeb 8 – March 2, 2007 Story Commercial Networks PBS NewsHour Iraq policy debate 8% 21% Iraq homefront 6 17 Events in Iraq 10 6 Campaign 2008 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