Limited Coverage of Longest War

The war in Afghanistan recently passed Vietnam as the longest-running war in the history of the United States. In 2010, some eight-plus years after the start of military action, the conflict is receiving scant attention from the U.S. press. Through early June, the war had filled only 2.8% of the total newshole for the year with coverage declining from 3.3% of the newshole in the first quarter of the year to 2% in the second. The war last saw a spike in media attention in late 2009 as President Obama was making a decision about escalating the American troop presence in Afghanistan. In fact, the war filled 9.5% of the newshole in the fourth quarter of 2009 and trailed only the health care debate and the economy on the roster of top stories. Read More