CNN Covers Haiti 4X as Much as FNC/MSNBC. FNC/MSNBC Give Twice as Much Coverage to Senate Race

By Chris Ariens 

Pew’s Project for Excellence in Journalism has added up the news from last week. Coverage from Haiti filled most of the newshole — 27% — and was the leading story on network news with 35% coverage.

But Republican Scott Brown’s victory in the Massachusetts special election for Senate was the top story on cable news filling 32% of the newshole.

In their report, PEJ writes, “there were marked differences in how CNN, MSNBC and Fox covered Haiti and the Massachusetts election.”

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• About 60% of the CNN coverage was dedicated to Haiti — almost four times as much attention as it received on MSNBC and Fox. Conversely, the Senate race race filled approximately 40% of coverage on MSNBC and Fox and only about 15% on CNN.

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