No news is good news? The declining information value of broadcast news in America
Fig 5
Coverage of top 10 issues in 1969 and 2024.
Time devoted to coverage of the top 10 political issues during a typical newscast in 1969 vs. 2024. While the top issue in 2024 (the presidential election) received moderately less coverage than the top issue in 1969 (the Vietnam War), coverage of the remaining issues is significantly lower in 2024, ranging from roughly 15 seconds to two minutes, compared to 40 seconds to more than three minutes in 1969. In aggregate, significantly more time was spent covering top political issues in 1969 (19 minutes) than in 2024 (10.5 minutes).