--- title: "Topline" description: "TOPLINE Iraq Ground Events Study January 1-October 31, 2007    Reporting by Media Sector Frequency % of Stories Newspapers 122 11.0% Online 170 15.3 Network TV 465 41.9 Cable TV 292 26.3 Radio 60 5.4 Total 1109 100%   Reporting by Month Across All Media Outlets Frequency % of Stories January 129 11.6% February 133 […]" date: "2007-12-18" authors: - name: "Pew Research Center: Journalism & Media staff" job_title: "Guest Contributor" url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2007/12/18/topline-44/" --- # Topline **TOPLINE** Iraq Ground Events Study January 1-October 31, 2007 **Reporting by Media Sector** | | Frequency | % of Stories | | Newspapers | 122 | 11.0% | | Online | 170 | 15.3 | | Network TV | 465 | 41.9 | | Cable TV | 292 | 26.3 | | Radio | 60 | 5.4 | **** | Total | 1109 | 100% | ** ** **Reporting by Month** Across All Media Outlets **** | | Frequency | % of Stories | | January | 129 | 11.6% | | February | 133 | 12.0 | | March | 116 | 10.5 | | April | 113 | 10.2 | | May | 133 | 12.0 | | June | 119 | 10.7 | | July | 79 | 7.1 | | August | 84 | 7.6 | | September | 81 | 7.3 | | October | 122 | 11.0 | **** | Total | 1109 | 100% | ** ** ** ** **Topics** Across All Media Outlets **** ************ **** **** | | %ofNewshole | % of Stories | Frequency | | U.S.Involved Violence | 26.8% | 35.9% | 398 stories | | U.S.Strategy | 17.0 | 12.3 | 136 | | Iraqi Only Violence | 11.5 | 15.7 | 174 | | Private Contractors | 8.9 | 6.4 | 71 | | Iraqi Civilian Stories | 5.5 | 3.4 | 38 | | Insurgents | 5.4 | 4.1 | 45 | | U.S.Soldiers Other than Combat | 4.7 | 2.4 | 27 | | Reconstruction of Infrastructure | 3.4 | 2.7 | 30 | | Iraqi Government | 3.2 | 3.7 | 41 | | Iraqi Internal Affairs Other | 2.7 | 1.9 | 21 | | Mix of Topics | 1.8 | 1.8 | 20 | | U.S.Soldiers Charged with Crimes | 1.8 | 2.3 | 26 | | Iraqi Military and Police | 1.7 | 0.9 | 10 | | Non-U.S. Foreign Military | 1.6 | 2.9 | 32 | | Other | 1.6 | 1.9 | 21 | | Sectarian Tensions in Iraq | 1.5 | 0.7 | 8 | | U.S.Soldiers Helping People | 0.6 | 0.5 | 5 | | Iran’s Involvement | 0.3 | 0.5 | 6 | **** **** **** **** | Total | 100% | 100% | 1109 stories | **Stories by Narrative Thread ** Across All Media Outlets **** | | Frequency | % of Stories | **** | Continued Violence, No Other Themes | 520 stories | 46.9% | **** **** **** | | | | ****** ** | U.S.Policy/SurgeTotal | 157 stories | 14.2% | | Will Work/ Is Working | 36 | 3.2 | | Will Not Work/ Is NotWorking | 55 | 5.0 | | Balanced | 66 | 6.0 | **** **** **** | | | | **** | Iraqi Nation’s StabilityTotal | 84 stories | 7.6% | | IraqMoving Towards Stability | 5 | 0.5 | | IraqMoving Towards Chaos | 72 | 6.5 | | Balanced | 7 | 0.6 | **** **** **** | | | | **** | Iraqi GovernmentTotal | 43 stories | 3.9% | | Government is Stable/Making Progress | 6 | 0.5 | | Government is Unstable/Negative Progress | 32 | 2.9 | | Balanced | 5 | 0.5 | **** **** **** | | | | **** | Iraqi People’s View of U.S. PresenceTotal | 14 stories | 1.3% | | Want Troops to Stay | 1 | 0.1 | | Want Troops to Leave | 9 | 0.8 | | Balanced | 4 | 0.4 | **** **** **** | | | | **** | Troop MoraleTotal | 14 stories | 1.3% | | Morale is Up | 3 | 0.3 | | Morale is Down | 7 | 0.6 | | Balanced | 4 | 0.4 | **** **** **** | | | | **** | Other Themes*Total(Stories Did Not IncludeEvaluations of Above Themes) | 235 stories | 21.2% | | U.S.Military – Other Than Violence | 57 | 5.1 | | IraqInternal Affairs | 54 | 4.9 | | Private Contractors | 54 | 4.9 | | U.S.Involved Violence | 16 | 1.4 | | Other | 54 | 4.9 | | | | | **** | Straight Recitation of Facts (Other Than Violence) | 42 stories | 3.8% | **** **** **** | | | | **** | Total | 1109 stories | 100% | *These other themes included subjects such as the role of private contractors, the day to day life of U.S. troops, reconstruction efforts, and other Iraqi internal issues not having to do with incidents of violence. ** ** **Narrative Threads, Pessimistic, Optimistic, Balanced** **** **** ** ** | | Frequency | % ofStories | **** | Pessimistic ThemesTotal | 175 stories | 15.8 % | | Iraqi Nation Moving TowardsChaos | 72 | 6.5 | | U.S.Policy/Surge Will Not Work/Is Not Working | 55 | 5.0 | | Iraq Government isUnstable/Negative Progress | 32 | 2.9 | | Iraqi People Want U.S. Troopsto Leave | 9 | 0.8 | | U.S. Troop Morale is Down | 7 | 0.6 | | | **** | Optimistic ThemesTotal | 51 stories | 4.6% | | U.S. Policy/Surge WillWork/Is working | 36 | 3.2 | | Iraqi Government isStable/Making Progress | 6 | 0.5 | | Iraqi Nation is MovingTowards Stability | 5 | 0.5 | | Iraqi Troop Morale is Up | 3 | 0.3 | | Iraqi People Want U.S. Troopsto Stay | 1 | 0.1 | | | **** | Balanced ThemesTotal | 86 stories | 7.8% | | U.S.Policy/Surge - Balanced | 66 | 6.0 | | Iraqi Nation – Balanced | 7 | 0.6 | | Iraqi Government – Balanced | 5 | 0.5 | | Iraqi People on U.S. Presence– Balanced | 4 | 0.4 | | U.S.Troop Morale - Balanced | 4 | 0.4 | ** ** **Number of Stakeholders (All Stories)** **** | | Frequency | % of Stories | % of Newshole | | Total | 1109 stories | 100% | 100% | | All/ Mostly One Viewpoint | 368 | 33.2 | 33.4 | | Two Views | 113 | 10.2 | 12.5 | | More Than Two | 330 | 29.8 | 48.9 | | Not Applicable/ StraightRecitation of Facts | 298 | 26.9 | 5.2 | ** ** **Number of Stakeholders (Excluding Those That Straight Recitation of Facts)** **** | | Frequency | % of Stories | % of Newshole | | Total | 811 stories | 100% | 100% | | All/ Mostly One Viewpoint | 368 | 45.4 | 36.0 | | Two Views | 113 | 13.9 | 13.5 | | More Than Two | 330 | 40.7 | 50.6 | ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **Dominant Source in Stories with One Stakeholder ** **** | | Frequency | % of Stories | % of Newshole | ****** ** | U.S.Government | | White House/ executive | 21 stories | 5.7% | 3.3% | | Democratic Lawmakers | 2 | 0.5 | 0.4 | | Republican Lawmakers | 2 | 0.5 | 0.4 | | U.S.Government Other | 19 | 5.2 | 3.1 | | | ******** | U.S.Diplomats | 2 | 0.5 | 0.3 | | | **** | Anti-War Groups | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | ******** | U.S.Military | | Official View | 128 | 34.8 | 36.0 | | Soldiers in the Field | 40 | 10.9 | 18.5 | | | **** | Iraqi | | Iraqi Government | 38 | 10.3 | 7.5 | | Iraqi Military | 12 | 3.3 | 3.5 | | Sunni Civilians | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Shiite Civilians | 3 | 0.8 | 1.2 | | Kurdish Civilians | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Civilians Other/ Unspecified | 15 | 4.1 | 4.7 | | | **** | Insurgents | 8 | 2.2 | 1.6 | | | **** | Private Contractors | 3 | 0.8 | 0.6 | | | **** | Non-U.S. Foreign | | | | | Foreign Government | 5 | 1.4 | 0.5 | | Foreign Military | 2 | 0.5 | 0.3 | | | **** | Expert/ Outside Group | 13 | 3.5 | 2.7 | | | **** | Journalist/ Host | 45 | 12.2 | 13.9 | | | **** | Other | 10 | 2.7 | 1.6 | | | **** | Total* | 368 Stories | 100% | 100% | ** ** ***** Stories that had no Dominant Source were left out of this tally. This table includes 368 out of 1109 total stories.