How 9-11 Changed the News

Share this

"How did 9-11 change the news?" asks the Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ). To answer the question, ADT Research's Tyndall Report analyzed network evening news shows, comparing "the four years of network newscasts prior to 2001" with "the four years since." The study reveals "increased coverage of foreign policy and global conflict ... but less coverage of domestic issues." PEJ writes, "A rise in foreign coverage may not surprise anyone. U.S. troops are currently fighting and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan. The issue of global terrorism is the new question of our times." Yet, "the balance between reporting-driven 'hard news' and softer features, interviews and commentaries remained virtually unchanged after 9-11." The topics with the steepest decline in U.S. network news coverage since 9-11 are drugs, alcohol and tobacco; space, science and technology; and crime, penal policy and law enforcement.