Technically, we suppose, the earthquake which rocked China cannot be considered a weather event, but it combined with the Myanmar cyclone and numerous lesser events to grab a significant share of the newshole during the week of 5/12/08-5/18/08, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism. In fact, the folks at network television even elevated the earthquake above the campaign.
The 2% edge that story received in that one medium was not nearly enough to overcome the continuing election tunnel vision exhibited by cable TV, which bestowed 74% of its available time to the story and contributed to its overall 37% share. Click on the headline to see the chart.
| Story | Overall | Newspaper | Online | Net. TV | Cable TV | Radio |
| 2008 Campaign | 46% | 27% | 29% | 41% | 75% | 56% |
| Myanmar cyclone | 15% | 15% | 31% | 18% | 6% | 6% |
| US economy | 5% | 9% | 6% | 4% | 1% | 1% |
| Immigration | 2% | 6% | x | x | 1% | x |
| Gas/oil prices | 2% | 2% | 3% | 3% | 1% | 3% |
| Microsoft/Yahoo | 1% | 4% | 2% | x | x | x |
| Iraq events | 1% | 2% | x | 2% | x | x |
| Russia | 1% | x | 3% | x | x | x |
| Israel turns 60 | 1% | 2% | x | x | x | x |
| Iraq homefront | 1% | x | x | 2% | x | 1% |
| Israel/Palenstein | x | 2% | x | x | x | x |
| AR/MO storms | x | 2% | x | x | x | x |
| Lebanon violence | x | x | 2% | x | 1% | x |
| North Korea nukes | x | x | 1% | x | x | x |
| Olympics | x | x | 1% | x | x | x |
| Austrian house/hostages | x | x | 3% | x | x | x |
| Kentucky Derby | x | x | x | 3% | x | 1% |
| Jenna Bush wedding | x | x | x | 2% | 1% | x |
| Philadelphia police beating | x | x | x | 1% | x | x |
| San Diego U. drug bust | x | x | x | 1% | 2% | x |
| Texas polygamy raid | x | x | x | x | 1% | x |
| Iraq policy | x | x | x | x | 1% | x |
| China | x | x | x | x | x | 2% |
| War on terror | x | x | x | x | x | 2% |
| Iran | x | x | x | x | x | 1% |
| Pakistan | x | x | x | x | x | 1% |
Source: Project for Excellence in Journalism
