Posted by Mark Silva at 11:45 am CST
Most Americans believe the press has gone overboard in covering the recent death of pinup Anna Nicole Smith at the age of 39, the Pew Research Center has found. Fully 61 percent say the Smith story has been overcovered -- far more than saying that of any other recent story.
More Americans were paying attention to news about the war in Iraq.
Even so, Pew reports, "a sizable minority (11 percent) followed Smith’s death more closely than any of last week’s other top stories.
"This is on par with the number who cited news about the 2008 presidential candidates (13 percent) or the Super Bowl (11 percent) as the stories they followed most closely.''
The war in Iraq was the top story for the week of Feb. 5, with 30 percent following it most closely.
The are the main findings of Pew's first weekly "News Interest Index'', a new initiative by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
For the first time, the public’s news interest can be compared with the news media’s agenda through The Project for Excellence in Journalism’s News Coverage Index, which monitors news reports by major newspaper, television, radio and online news outlets on an ongoing basis, Pew reports.
PEJ’s Index examines news content each week from Sunday through Fridahy.
The News Interest Index survey will measure the public’s reaction over the weekend (Friday through Monday) with the results reported on Thursdays.
"The marriage of these two projects provides an unprecedented opportunity to evaluate how the public’s appetite for major news stories compares with the amount of coverage the press devotes to these stories,'' Pew says, reporting the findings of the first week's survey:
● The public and the press are often in agreement about the most important news stories of the day. For the past several weeks, the Iraq war has consistently been the top-ranked news story both in terms of public interest and press coverage.
● There is a substantial gender gap in interest in stories about Anna Nicole Smith. Of those who rated Smith’s death as the story they followed most closely, 72% are women.
● The trial of former White House aide Scooter Libby has stirred very little public interest. Stories about the trial accounted for 3%-4% of the overall newshole in the last two weeks in January, according to PEJ. The Libby trial was the top news story for just 1% of the public during that period.
● Anna Nicole Smith’s death overshadowed another recent tabloid story – that of Lisa Nowak, the astronaut accused of attempted murder. Just 4% of Americans cited the astronaut story as their top story during the week of Feb. 5, and 29% felt the press gave this story too much coverage.
• 
• 
• 
Comments
I watched Fox News last weekend and Friday thru Sunday it was all Anna, all day. Fox News would even ask people to comment on her death in the middle of interviews. They reported, and I decided that Fox News is still garbage. I cannot believe that network can be anyone's first source for important news.
Posted by: jethro | February 16, 2007 11:59 AM
Jethro,
Fox Noise Channel is good at reporting trash.
Posted by: John E. | February 16, 2007 12:23 PM
Not paying attention....live by the sword..die by the sword.
Posted by: bill r. | February 16, 2007 12:35 PM
Jethro,
Don't throw stones inside a glass house.
I'm not standing up for Fox, but CNN.com had Smith prominently plastered across the front page all weekend as well. In fact, I don't think she's come out of the "Top Stories" section of the site in the eight days she's been gone.
And within an hour of the first reports going out about her death, the Tribune's site set aside a comment section devoted to feedback on Smith's death. Correct me if I'm wrong (as I didn't think I'd have to make the comparison at the time), but did the Tribune set aside space when Gerald Ford died?
I do think it's pretty encouraging that the public is paying more attention to real issues like the war rather than frivolous tabloid news, no matter how hard the mainstream media is trying to force feed it down our throats.
Posted by: Jeff C. | February 16, 2007 12:42 PM
I agree that they've gone overboard. But, Jethro, it's not just Fox. I tried to watch CNN Headline News to see what happened Monday after a long day at a trade show and for two hours straight all they showed was Nancy Grace interviewing Broward County Coroner Joshua Perper and a host of interested parties in the paternity suit over Smith's daughter.
You can't just lay the blame at Fox's feet when they're at least only devoting one channel (Fox News) to the coverage surge and CNN is usurping the role of Headline News (their breaking news channel, as opposed to the "analysis" done on CNN) while letting Larry King prattle on to all of Anna Nicole's friends over at CNN.
Posted by: Jeff | February 16, 2007 12:42 PM
speaking of fox news... I was watching the other day and thought it was funny that when they showed footage of Hillary talking about Iran & terrorists, they transposed images of Saddam Hussein & Ahmadenijad over the footage of her speaking, so that the images of hillary & saddam or hillary & Ahmadenijad were transposed & kind've melded together.
Nice
Funny how they don't do that to Republicans when they talk about Saddam or Ahmadinejad. Must just be a coincedence.
Posted by: david k | February 16, 2007 1:43 PM
But doesn't Fox News advertise that they are not like the other guys?
Posted by: jethro | February 17, 2007 9:35 AM
listen to judge judy. she makes alot of sense. the judge presiding over this case should not even be on the bench in the first place. curious as to where he learned about law......lanceg
Posted by: lance griswold | February 18, 2007 5:25 AM
It is evident that many US media organs tiptoe around a number of vital issues in fear of not to overstep their limits.
According to Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Columbia University professor and Nobel laureate, so many soldiers are being injured that the costs of caring for them over their lifetimes is likely to be $350 billion, or up to twice that, depending on how long the war lasts. The high cost is the result of huge advances in military medicine that have greatly reduced the chances that a soldier injured in Iraq will die. As a result, the ratio of injuries to deaths 16:1 by his estimate is higher than in any other war in U.S. history.
The White House budget director, Rob Portman has asked, in the new budget, for another $365 billion over the next few fiscal years. This comes on the $433 billion that’s already been spent, a total of nearly $800 billion.
And what a lot of people are asking: Is this good money going after bad given the current situation in Iraq? Senator Patrick Leahy, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said the other day: It’s doubly shameful because we’re trying to restore places like New Orleans and the Gulf Coast here in this country. That’s been held up, and this money’s being wasted in Iraq.
Media outlets ought to probe the cakewalk crowd who promised a casual march to victory in Iraq. Media activists should campaign for accountability of the likes of Ken Adelmen who misled the American media by claiming “measured by any cost-benefit analysis, such an operation would constitute the greatest victory in America’s war on terrorism.”
All Americans have a right to alternate opinion. More so, when owing to movement restrictions on US media in Iraq, security risks and language barriers for American expatriates and diplomats there is limited interaction to gather facts. Out of 1000 personnel at US mission in Baghdad, only 7 are fluent in Arabic. This is for a country spending $2 billion a week to win hearts and minds in Iraq. The Self-pronounced champions of accuracy, fairness and honesty in media should think hard why they remain indifferent and unwilling towards Americans getting a pluralistic picture on ground. Those who call for restricting plurality of opinion deny the option of diversity and deprive the US audience to judge the facts for themselves.
Posted by: Jim | March 30, 2007 10:02 AM