Apparently Iraq would have had to have been carrying a communicable disease to maintain its stranglehold on the newshole during the week of 5/27/07-6/1/07, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism. The saga of the traveler with tuberculosis, riding various airplanes and a lot of cable coverage, was the only story to break into double digits on the overall media chart with 12%.
The 2008 campaign also beat out any of the numerous Mideast categories. And even there, the usual Iraq front runner, the policy debate, took a back seat to events in the country and on the homefront. Add those three together and Iraq was back on top overall with 15% of the newshole, while Iran and Afghanistan stories took the Mideast to 20% (4% and 1%, respectively). The outbreak of violence in Lebanon, claiming 6% of media attention the week before, was the biggest story to drop off the chart completely. Other than a 2% focus on global warming, there were no major meteorological stories of note. Immigration was a fairly hot topic on radio, but was of mild or no interest elsewhere.
| Story | Overall | Newspr | Online | NetTV | CATV | Radio |
| TB traveler | 12% | 4% | 6% | 16% | 24% | 7% |
| 2008 campaign | 9% | 8% | 5% | 7% | 13% | 15% |
| Iraq events | 7% | 8% | 14% | 6% | 3% | 5% |
| Iraq homefront | 4% | 5% | 5% | 3% | 4% | 5% |
| Immigration | 4% | 5% | x | x | 5% | 9% |
| Iran | 4% | x | 10% | 7% | 4% | 1% |
| Iraq policy | 4% | 3% | x | 4% | 5% | 7% |
| Global warming | 2% | 3% | x | 4% | x | 2% |
| Sudan/Dafur | 2% | x | 4% | 3% | x | x |
| Afghanistan | 1% | x | 3% | 3% | x | 3% |
| General war on terror | x | 3% | x | x | x | x |
| Supreme Court | x | 2% | x | x | x | x |
| Energy debate | x | 2% | x | x | x | x |
| Russian spy death | x | x | 4% | x | x | x |
| Israel/Palestine | x | x | 4% | x | x | x |
| Russia/US relations | x | x | 3% | x | x | x |
| Memorial Day | x | x | x | 3% | x | x |
| Rosie O'Donnell | x | x | x | x | 2% | x |
| Dan Bartlett resigns | x | x | x | x | 2% | x |
| Chavez/Venezuela TV | x | x | x | x | 2% | x |
| Congress | x | x | x | x | x | 4% |
Source: Project for Excellence in Journalism |
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