The health care debate was the second ranked story for newspaper and online editors, but it was the tunnel-vision #1 for cable and radio wasn’t far behind, putting it well ahead of the economic crisis and Afghanistan in the news focus for the week of 9/17-23/09.
The Project for Excellence in Journalism reported a tight journalistic playlist for the week, with only eight stories appearing off the overall top ten, and only five appearing in one medium only.
| Story | Overall | Newspaper | Online | NetTV | CATV | Radio |
| Health care debate | 28% | 15% | 16% | 21% | 51% | 39% |
| Economic crisis | 10% | 19% | 10% | 9% | 5% | 6% |
| Afghanistan | 10% | 8% | 20% | 11% | 4% | 8% |
| Lockerbie bomber freed | 4% | x | 7% | 5% | 3% | 5% |
| Domestic terror | 4% | 4% | 2% | x | 8% | x |
| Hurricane Bill | 3% | x | 4% | 6% | 3% | 2% |
| Events in Iraq | 3% | 6% | 3% | 2% | x | x |
| US auto industry | 2% | 4% | x | 3% | 1% | 3% |
| Robert Novak dies | 2% | x | 6% | x | x | x |
| Swine flu | 2% | 3% | x | 4% | x | 1% |
| Obama administration | x | 3% | x | x | 2% | 1% |
| Education system | x | 3% | 2% | x | x | x |
| Immigration debate | x | 3% | x | x | x | x |
| Michael Jackson dies | x | x | 2% | 3% | 2% | x |
| Don Hewitt dies | x | x | x | 3% | x | x |
| Gun control | x | x | x | x | 1% | x |
| Pakistan | x | x | x | x | x | 4% |
| Heart diseases | x | x | x | x | x | 2% |
Source: Project for Excellence in Journalism
