The pirates of Somalia briefly took the journalistic media’s attention away from a hard focus on the economic crisis awhile back, and now the swine flu has managed the trick, according to the latest Project for Excellence in Journalism report for the week of 4/27/09-5/3/09.
In fact, the swine flu sent the econ story into quarantine with three other topics which all made a play for #2 on the PEJ chart, with econ edging out the Obama administration, Arlen Specter, and developments in the US auto industry.
| Story | Overall | Newspaper | Online | Net.TV | CATV | Radio |
| Swine flu | 31% | 23% | 34% | 43% | 34% | 20% |
| Economic crisis | 10% | 17% | 7% | 10% | 5% | 14% |
| Obama administration | 9% | 7% | 12% | 6% | 10% | 11% |
| Specter switches parties | 9% | 5% | 8% | 4% | 15% | 12% |
| US auto industry | 8% | 8% | 11% | 8% | 4% | 9% |
| Souter to leave SCOTUS | 5% | 3% | 3% | 7% | x | 3% |
| Domestic terrorism | 3% | x | x | 1% | 8% | 1% |
| Education system | 2% | 7% | x | x | x | x |
| SCOTUS actions | 1% | x | x | 3% | x | 2% |
| Pakistan | 1% | x | 2% | x | x | x |
| Cyberspace issues | x | 3% | x | x | x | x |
| Afghanistan | x | 2% | x | x | x | x |
| Energy debate | x | 2% | x | x | x | x |
| Events in Iraq | x | x | 2% | x | x | x |
| Craigslist killer | x | x | 2% | x | x | x |
| North Korea | x | x | 2% | x | x | x |
| Air ForceOne photo op | x | x | x | 2% | 1% | x |
| Pirates of Somalia | x | x | x | 1% | x | x |
| 111th Congress | x | x | x | x | 2% | x |
| Presidential election results | x | x | x | x | 1% | x |
| Health care debate | x | x | x | x | x | 4% |
Source: Project for Excellence in Journalism
