Pew: News Coverage, Interest in Japan Align

By ( Broadcasting & Cable ) published

National news media
coverage of the Japanese disaster and the public's interest in that story were
in perfect synch, according to the Pew Research Center's News Interest Index.

Fifty-seven percent of
those polled said they followed the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear meltdown story
most closely last week, exactly the same percentage of coverage given to thestory by the major national new media.

A majority (51%) said
they were most closely tracking the damage to nuclear power plants. And some
viewers were doing more than just following the story. One in five said they
had made a donation to help the victims, more than a third saying they had done
so online.

The survey was a
telephone poll of 1,004 adults 18-plus. It was conducted March 17-20.

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.