Anna Nicole Coverage -- The Good News
"The bosomy blonde’s demise consumed a staggering 50% of the cable newshole PEJ examined on February 8 and 9. Those are levels reminiscent of those pre-9/11 celebrity sagas—think Princess Di and JFK Jr." --
Project for Excellence in Journalism
It seemed to me that the story was sucking all the oxygen out of the room (for as long as I could bear to watch) but the PEJ News Coverage Index for Feb 4-9 calculates that the death of Anna Nicole Smith was only the third most covered story overall -- 10% of the newshole, compared to 12% for "Iraq Policy" and 11% for "Events in Iraq."Project for Excellence in Journalism
Even better: ANS comes up 5th online (behind even The Runaway Astronaut). In newspapers -- with a much tougher news hole environment -- the story isn't among the top 5.
Even worse: ANS was 8% of the tiny network news hole and a whopping 50% of the limitless cable news hole on Thursday, the day she died, and Friday.
But the Iraq War continued to fundamentally dominate.
Even in a week of such Anna Nicole mania, the war in Iraq remained a media priority. The debate over Iraq strategy was the biggest story for the fourth time in six weeks. Yet the situation on the ground in Iraq (at 10%) generated its highest level of overall coverage and was the leading story in both the newspaper and online sectors.
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