During the previous administration, the situation in the Mideast was the week-in, week-out attention hog as far as the journalistic media was concerned, except when America was throwing an election.
During the early days of the new administration, the economy is hogging the spotlight. The competition for other stories has been for the #2 slot, and during the week of 3/2/09-3/8/09, the big winner was Rush Limbaugh, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism. 8% of the newshole went to trying to figure out whether or not Limbaugh is in fact the new leader of the Republican Party.
Cable and radio outlets gave the story double-digit coverage.
| Story | Overall | Newspaper | Online | Net.TV | CATV | Radio |
| Economic crisis | 43% | 50% | 39% | 39% | 47% | 30% |
| Does Limbaugh lead GOP | 8% | 3% | 3% | 5% | 17% | 15% |
| Obama administration | 5% | 4% | 4% | 3% | 5% | 9% |
| Health care debate | 4% | 3% | 5% | 4% | 4% | 4% |
| NFL players missing at sea | 3% | x | 6% | 6% | 2% | 2% |
| US auto industry | 2% | x | 6% | 3% | x | x |
| Afghanistan | 2% | 5% | x | x | x | 2% |
| Russia | 1% | x | x | 2% | x | 2% |
| Supreme Court action | 1% | 3% | x | 4% | x | 2% |
| Israel/Palestine conflict | 1% | x | 4% | x | 1% | x |
| Immigration | x | 2% | x | x | x | x |
| Mexican drug war | x | 2% | x | x | x | x |
| North Korea | x | 2% | x | x | x | x |
| Domestic terrorism | x | 2% | x | x | x | x |
| Pakistan | x | x | 5% | x | x | x |
| Sudan/Darfur | x | x | 4% | x | x | x |
| Madoff banking scam | x | x | 3% | x | x | x |
| March winter storms | x | x | x | 3% | x | x |
| Barbara Bush’s health | x | x | x | 2% | 1% | x |
| Fired US attorney controversy | x | x | x | x | 2% | x |
| Same-sex marriage debate | x | x | x | x | 1% | 4% |
| General Middle East | x | x | x | x | 1% | x |
| Iraq policy debate | x | x | x | x | x | 3% |
| Source: Project for Excellence in Journalism | ||||||
