News Coverage Index to Monitor U.S. Media Trends

Without question, news gathering has been transformed through aggregators (like Google News) and social tagging tools (like Digg). It’s also encouraging to watch traditional research organizations adapt to the changing media landscape.

An online news coverage index will be launched next week as part of a new initiative to continually monitor and analyze American media. The Project for Excellence in Journalism says nearly 50 media outlets will be captured, analyzed and coded to capture coverage trends and differences among media types.

Print, network TV, cable, online, and radio will be included in the research, which will be completed by eight coders who work around the clock. A weekly report will be issued with “a narrative analyzing the twists, turns, and trajectory of the coverage,” according to the announcement. The group also plans additional indices focusing on people, talk shows and bloggers.

This story noted, for example, that the Princess Diana crash inquiry was widely reported, but the morning network news shows covered it far more than other outlets. Expect similar analysis and commentary each week.

An approach like this one – with human coders constantly monitoring coverage 24x7 – may seem a bit old-fashioned in this information age. However, empirical research still has a place in academic circles and for watchdog efforts such as this one. Years ago, this type of research might’ve ended up in an academic journal or another paper-based publication. With its weekly cycle and online delivery, however, the News Coverage Index will have far more relevance – and a much larger potential audience.