The upcoming midterm elections dominated the news cycle for the week of September 27-October 3, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism’s News Coverage Index.
The election coverage took up 26% of the newshole, generationg more than twice as much coverage as the economy which was the second most covered story of the week.
Election coverage was particularly popular on cable news, where it took up 40%of the total newshole. The network newscasts only covered the elections 17% of the time.
While the economy was #2 for the week, it is still the most covered story of 2010.
The top five newsmakers were all from the world of politics, which PEJ cites as “further evidence of the growth in coverage of the 2010 elections.”
President Obama was #1, followed by outgoing WH chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, former President Jimmy Carter and incoming WH chief of staff Pete Rouse.