---
title: "Topline – Part 1"
description: "PEJ News Coverage Index April 1 – June 29, 2007 All Media Top Stories (Percent of Newshole) 2nd QTR Rank Story All Media 1st QTR 2nd QTR YTD 1 2008 Campaign 7.4% 8.5% 8.0% 2 Events in Iraq* 6.8 6.7 6.7 3 Iraq Policy Debate* 12.4 6.6 9.5 4 Immigration 1.5 5.7 3.6 5 VA […]"
date: "2007-08-20"
authors:
  - name: "Pew Research Center"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2007/08/20/topline-part-1/"
---

# Topline – Part 1

### PEJ News Coverage Index
April 1 – June 29, 2007

**All Media
Top Stories
**(Percent of Newshole)

| 2ndQTRRank | Story | All Media |

| 1stQTR | 2ndQTR | YTD |

| 1 | 2008 Campaign | 7.4% | 8.5% | 8.0% |
******
| 2 | Events in Iraq* | 6.8 | 6.7 | 6.7 |
******
| 3 | IraqPolicy Debate* | 12.4 | 6.6 | 9.5 |

| 4 | Immigration | 1.5 | 5.7 | 3.6 |

| 5 | VA Tech Shootings | n/a | 4.9 | 2.5 |

| 6 | Don Imus | n/a | 2.4 | 1.2 |

| 7 | Iran | 3.4 | 2.1 | 2.8 |

| 8 | Fired Attorneys | 3.6 | 1.9 | 2.8 |
******
| 9 | IraqHomefront* | 3.0 | 1.5 | 2.3 |

| 10 | Palestinian Conflict | 0.1 | 1.4 | 0.8 |

| 11 | Global Warming | 1.4 | 1.2 | 1.3 |

| 12 | TB Traveler | n/a | 1.1 | 0.6 |

| 13 | Domestic Terrorism | 1.5 | 1.1 | 1.3 |

| 14 | US Economic Numbers | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.9 |

| 15 | Afghanistan | 1.1 | 0.9 | 1.0 |

| Iraq War Total (sum of the three starred stories) | 22.2% | 14.8% | 18.5% |

Note: All other stories were less than 0.9% for the 2nd quarter.

Newshole is defined as the time or space available in an outlet for news content.

**All Media
****Geographic Focus**
(Percent of Newshole)

|  Geographic Focus | All |

| 1stQTR | 2ndQTR | YTD |

| US National | 63% | 65% | 64% |

| US Interests Abroad | 27 | 23 | 25 |

| Foreign(Non-US) | 8 | 12 | 10 |

| Local* | 1 | <1 | 1 |

| No SpecificGeographic Focus | <1 | <1 | <1 |

Note: For newspapers, we do not include a local newspaper story in our study unless that story also falls into the realm of one of the Top Stories we are tracking at the time.

**Newspapers
****Top Stories**
(Percent of Newshole)

| 2ndQTRRank | Story | All | Top Tier | SecondTier | ThirdTier |

| QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD |

| 1 | 2008 Campaign | 7.7% | 7.4% | 7.6% | 7.3% | 10.1% | 10.8% | 3.6% | 2.7% |

| 2 | Events in Iraq* | 7.1 | 6.8 | 7.2 | 7.0 | 7.6 | 7.4 | 5.7 | 5.0 |

| 3 | Immigration | 5.1 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 3.5 | 6.5 | 4.8 | 6.1 | 4.6 |

| 4 | IraqPolicy Debate* | 4.5 | 5.9 | 3.7 | 5.3 | 5.0 | 5.9 | 10.3 | 11.6 |

| 5 | VA Tech Shootings | 3.4 | 1.7 | 2.6 | 1.4 | 5.4 | 2.7 | 6.7 | 3.1 |

| 6 | IraqHomefront* | 2.5 | 3.2 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 4.1 | 5.9 | 9.7 | 6.4 |

| 7 | US Economic Numbers | 1.7 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 2.9 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 1.5 |

| 8 | Fired Attorneys | 1.6 | 2.1 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 0.9 | 1.8 |

| 9 | Palestinian Conflict | 1.5 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.3 |

| 10 | Global Warming | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 2.4 | 3.0 | 1.8 | 1.9 |

| Iraq War Total (sum of the three starred stories) | 14.1% | 15.9% | 12.3% | 14.6% | 16.7% | 19.2% | 25.7% | 23.0% |

Note: All other stories were less than 1.4% for all newspapers in the 2nd quarter.

**Newspapers
****Geographic Focus**
(Percent of Newshole)

|  Geographic Focus | All | Top Tier | Second Tier | Third Tier |

| QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD |

| US National | 64% | 64% | 62% | 62% | 70% | 65% | 71% | 70% |

| US Interests Abroad | 21 | 22 | 21 | 22 | 20 | 22 | 21 | 20 |

| Foreign(Non-US) | 14 | 12 | 17 | 15 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1 |

| Local* | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 8 |

| No Specific Geographic Focus | <1 | <1 | <1 | <1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

Note: For newspapers, we do not include a local newspaper story in our study unless that story also falls into the realm of one of the Top Stories we are tracking at the time.

**Online
****Top Stories**
(Percent of Newshole)

| 2ndQTRRank | Story | All | AOL News | CNN.com | Google News | MSNBC.com | Yahoo News |

| QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD |

| 1 | Events in Iraq* | 13.1 | 12.7 | 9.8 | 11.2 | 13.9 | 15.1 | 10.9 | 7.5 | 11.4 | 11.2 | 19.7 | 18.9 |

| 2 | IraqPolicy Debate* | 5.3 | 7.2 | 5.7 | 7.6 | 3.8 | 6.3 | 7.4 | 9.1 | 4.6 | 6.2 | 5.1 | 7.0 |

| 3 | 2008 Campaign | 4.9 | 4.5 | 5.6 | 4.8 | 5.6 | 4.6 | 4.9 | 5.1 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 2.4 | 2.0 |

| 4 | VA Tech Shootings | 3.8 | 1.9 | 3.5 | 1.7 | 6.1 | 3.1 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 4.5 | 2.3 | 3.6 | 1.8 |

| 5 | Immigration | 3.0 | 1.7 | 3.3 | 1.9 | 4.5 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 2.3 | 1.2 |

| 6 | Iran | 3.0 | 4.2 | 3.3 | 4.6 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 3.4 | 4.6 | 1.4 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 5.2 |

| 7 | Fired Attorneys | 2.8 | 3.3 | 2.9 | 3.3 | 2.9 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 0.8 | 1.8 |

| 8 | Palestinian Conflict | 2.7 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 4.0 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 1.6 | 3.4 | 1.9 |

| 9 | Israeli/Palestinian Conflict | 2.1 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 3.9 | 3.7 |

| 10 | Russia/US relations (added 6/1/07) | 2.1 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 4.0 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 0.9 |

| 16 | IraqHomefront* | 1.1 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 2.1 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 0 | 0.2 |

| Iraq War Total (sum of the three starred stories) | 19.5 | 21.4 | 16.5 | 20.0 | 17.9 | 22.1 | 19.7 | 18.7 | 18.7 | 20.1 | 24.8 | 26.1 |

Note: All other stories were less than 2.1% for all online in the 2nd quarter.

**Online
****Geographic Focus**
(Percent of Newshole)

| Geographic Focus | All | AOL News | CNN.com | Google News | MSNBC.com | Yahoo News |

| QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD |

| US National | 47% | 47% | 58% | 54% | 54% | 53% | 31% | 33% | 57% | 58% | 33% | 35% |

| US Interests Abroad | 29 | 31 | 26 | 30 | 26 | 27 | 34 | 32 | 24 | 27 | 38 | 39 |

| Foreign(Non-US) | 23 | 22 | 16 | 15 | 21 | 20 | 34 | 35 | 18 | 15 | 29 | 26 |

| No Specific Geographic Focus | <1 | <1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | <1 | <1 | <1 | <1 |

**Network TV
****Top Stories **
(Percent of Newshole)

| 2ndQTRRank | Story | All | Morning | Evening (ABC, CBS, NBC) | ABC Total | CBS Total | NBC Total | PBS Evening |

| QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD |

| 1 | Events in Iraq* | 7.1 | 7.4 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 7.1 | 8.4 | 5.4 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 5.6 | 6.4 | 11.4 | 10.3 |

| 2 | 2008 Campaign | 6.6 | 6.7 | 11.1 | 11.5 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 6.8 | 7.4 | 5.6 | 6.1 | 9.2 | 9.3 | 4.4 | 3.4 |

| 3 | IraqPolicy Debate* | 6.4 | 10.7 | 5.3 | 8.9 | 5.1 | 7.7 | 4.3 | 7.4 | 4.6 | 7.3 | 6.6 | 10.0 | 10.7 | 19.2 |

| 4 | VA Tech Shootings | 5.4 | 2.7 | 5.5 | 2.8 | 6.3 | 3.2 | 5.7 | 2.9 | 6.2 | 3.1 | 5.8 | 2.9 | 3.7 | 1.8 |

| 5 | Immigration | 3.7 | 2.0 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 3.2 | 1.9 | 3.2 | 1.8 | 2.9 | 1.6 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 6.6 | 3.3 |

| 6 | Iran | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 4.0 | 4.1 |

| 7 | Don Imus | 2.1 | 1.0 | 3.6 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 3.1 | 1.6 | 0.1 | 0.1 |

| 8 | IraqHome-front* | 2.0 | 3.3 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 4.4 | 2.4 | 3.3 | 1.2 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 5.0 |

| 9 | TB Traveler | 1.7 | 0.8 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 2.6 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 0.7 |

| 10 | Global Warming | 1.5 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 1.9 |

| Iraq War Total (sum of the three starred stories) | 15.5 | 21.4 | 10.6 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 20.5 | 12.1 | 17.4 | 12.5 | 16.5 | 14.5 | 18.9 | 24.3 | 34.5 |

Note: All other stories were less than 1.5% for all Network TV in the 2nd quarter.

**Network TV
Geographic Focus**
(Percent of Newshole)

| Geogra-phic Focus | All | Morning | Evening (ABC, CBS, NBC) | ABC Total | CBS Total | NBC Total | PBS Evening |

| QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD |

| US National | 64% | 65% | 72% | 72% | 67% | 68% | 70% | 70% | 69% | 71% | 69% | 70% | 47% | 45% |

| US Interests Abroad | 26 | 28 | 20 | 21 | 25 | 25 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 24 | 39 | 44 |

| Foreign(Non-US) | 9 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 11 |

| No Specific Geographic Focus | <1 | <1 | <1 | <1 | <1 | <1 | <1 | <1 | 0 | 0 | <1 | <1 | 0 | 0 |

**Cable TV**
**Top Stories**
(Percent of Newshole)

****

|  2ndQTRRank | Story | All | Daytime | Evening | CNN | Fox News | MSNBC |

| QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD |

| 1 | 2008 Campaign | 12.4 | 10.8 | 4.6 | 6.0 | 14.4 | 12.1 | 8.7 | 7.6 | 9.6 | 9.2 | 21.3 | 17.7 |

| 2 | IraqPolicy Debate* | 9.2 | 12.4 | 4.6 | 6.9 | 10.4 | 13.8 | 10.1 | 12.2 | 5.0 | 7.6 | 13.3 | 19.4 |

| 3 | Immigration | 7.5 | 4.9 | 4.2 | 2.5 | 8.3 | 5.6 | 9.2 | 6.5 | 7.9 | 5.0 | 4.6 | 2.6 |

| 4 | VA Tech Shootings | 7.2 | 3.6 | 8.9 | 4.5 | 6.7 | 3.4 | 8.5 | 4.3 | 6.5 | 3.2 | 6.1 | 3.1 |

| 5 | Don Imus | 4.6 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 5.4 | 2.7 | 4.6 | 2.3 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 5.4 | 2.7 |

| 6 | Events in Iraq* | 3.8 | 4.2 | 2.8 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 4.4 | 6.4 | 6.9 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 1.5 | 2.1 |

| 7 | Iran | 2.7 | 3.5 | 1.6 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 3.7 | 2.5 | 3.4 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 1.0 | 2.6 |

| 8 | Fired Attorneys | 2.0 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 2.8 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 3.7 | 5.9 |

| 9 | TB Traveler | 1.9 | 0.9 | 4.6 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 0.9 |

| 10 | OhioMissing Pregnant Woman | 1.7 | 0.8 | 2.4 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 0.9 |

| 19 | IraqHomefront* | 0.7 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 1.4 |

| Iraq War Total (sum of the three starred stories) | 13.7 | 18.1 | 7.9 | 11.1 | 15.1 | 19.8 | 17.8 | 21.3 | 7.9 | 11.4 | 15.1 | 22.9 |

Note: All other stories were less than 1.7% for all Cable TV in the 2nd quarter.

**Cable TV
****Geographic Focus
**(Percent of Newshole)

|  Geographic Focus | All | Daytime | Evening | CNN | Fox News | MSNBC |

| QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD | QTR | YTD |

| US National | 74% | 71% | 81% | 78% | 72% | 69% | 67% | 64% | 76% | 75% | 81% | 74% |

| US Interests Abroad | 21 | 25 | 13 | 17 | 24 | 27 | 27 | 30 | 19 | 20 | 17 | 25 |

| Foreign(Non-US) | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 |

| No Specific Geographic Focus | <1 | <1 | 0 | 0 | <1 | <1 | <1 | <1 | 0 | 0 | <1 | <1 |

---

**Next:** [Topline – Part 2](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2007/08/20/topline-part-2.md)