Study Shows ‘Colossal Shift’ in News

The September terror attacks and subsequent war in Afghanistan have caused a “colossal shift” toward hard news in morning and evening network newscasts, according to a new study from the Project for Excellence in Journalism, being released today.

Not surprisingly, stories about celebrities and lifestyle have declined in the morning news programs, the study found, to 24%, from a full 72% in June, while the evening newscasts have returned to a news agenda “that is closer to the 1970s than the 1990s.”

The study found that eight out of 10 evening news stories studied in October concerned government, national or international affairs, compared to just under 50% of the content for two weeks in June. Celebrity and lifestyle stories, which in June made up 25% of the evening newscasts, have largely vanished. Business and science news held largely steady, dropping to 16% of the newscasts, from 18%.

Among the three major broadcast networks, the study said, the “CBS Evening News” had the most traditional hard news both before and after Sept. 11 (86% versus 53%), followed by the “NBC Nightly News” (79% versus 39% before) and ABC’s “World News Tonight” (76% versus 44%).

In the morning, the study points to a change in the one-third of the time (excluding ads and local news) that is devoted to “selling products,” from movies to kitchen gadgets to other network shows. The programs are still selling things at the same rate, the study says, but more of the products are war-related rather than celebrity-related.

Network executives declined to comment until they had read the study.

The Project for Excellence in Journalism is a research organization affiliated with Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.