The Hollywood Reporter’s Paul J. Gough writes about the Pew Research Center’s determination that, “cable news channels in the U.S. of devoting way more coverage to the political campaign than the earthquake.”
According to the survey, conducted last week from May 12-18, it found the most Americans followed the gasoline prices story the most closely (31%), with the 2008 presidential race and the Chinese earthquake tied for second (22%).
In comparing the coverage, the earthquake got 13% of the news coverage, compared to 37% devoted to the campaign. The Myanmar cyclone, the same-sex court ruling and, interestingly, the gasoline prices story, got between three and four percent each.
It also found network newscast, “split their coverage more evenly.”
> Update: From an anonymous emailer, “I work for CNN, so I admit I’m a little biased about this… but I think that Pew story is way oversimplified. Anyone who treats ‘cable news’ as some monolithic entity is just trolling for a story. CNN has sent three correspondents to the China disaster zone, one of whom worked so hard covering the story, she got physically ill. They’ve already had one correspondent deported from Myanmar, but sent another one in anyway, despite the danger.”