TOP STORIES OF 2009 Barack Obama arrived in Washington and set the year’s agenda—his Inauguration, a fiscal stimulus, the bailout of Wall Street banks and Detroit automakers, his Supreme Court pick, the yearlong healthcare reform debate. After the torpor of the lame duck years of George Bush, the White TOP TWENTY STORIES OF 2009 House beat regained top spot and ABC’s Jake Tapper was the mins Total ABC CBS NBC busiest correspondent. Such a focus on domestic politics (3533 Healthcare reform debate 588 205 205 178 min v 3260 in 2001, 3631 in 1993) is par for a President’s first Influenza: H1N1 virus outbreak 580 180 178 222 year—slightly more than Bush’s, slightly less than Bill Clinton’s. Afghanistan fighting escalates 556 166 220 170 As the recession dragged on, the Economy (2785 min v 2767 in Economy in recession, stimulus 336 120 103 114 2008) again attracted record attention. Also setting records was Automobile industry bankruptcy 297 97 108 91 the Health beat (1883 min v a previous high of 1471 in 1993, Financial industry TARP bailout 252 88 87 77 the year of Hillarycare), since reform politics coupled with an Unemployment climbs to 10% 248 90 85 73 influenza pandemic. NBC, led by Robert Bazell, spent most Pop singer Michael Jackson dies 237 66 101 70 time on public health anxieties about the H1N1 swine ‘flu virus, an Iran politics: election protests 194 47 66 82 overreaction since the outbreak turned out to be mild. NYSE-NASDAQ market action 165 50 64 51 The stench of stolen elections set the agenda overseas. In Iran, the Fort Hood shooting: 13 dead 164 60 53 51 opposition took to the streets to protest corrupt clerics; in Obama Presidency under way 155 55 57 42 Afghanistan, the United States dispatched troop reinforcements Winter weather 150 44 47 60 to prop up Hamid Karzai’s corrupt regime. After seven years, Obama Inauguration ceremonies 141 40 52 48 Afghanistan has finally supplanted Iraq as the networks’ hot spot. Israeli-Palestinian conflict 132 37 53 42 CBS covered Afghanistan most heavily with its Road Ahead series Sen Edward Kennedy dies 130 44 46 39 yet its hard-news reputation was undermined by a decision to treat Financier Bernard Madoff fraud 129 40 61 28 pop singer Michael Jackson’s untimely death as a major story. USAirways jet lands in Hudson 122 40 42 40 The Most Newsworthy Woman of the Year Sonia Sotomayor; Justice Sonia Sotomayor named 118 38 41 39 the Man, Stanley McChrystal, who has an Afghanistan Plan. Pirates operate off African coast 112 42 35 34 Total Top Twenty Stories 4806 1548 1706 1553 TOP 20 MOST HEAVILY-USED REPORTERS (Anchors excl) network name assignment mins AFGHANISTAN [A] OVERTAKES IRAQ [I] ABC Jake Tapper White House 370 (mins) 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 CBS Chip Reid White House 341 A-War 439 81 106 103 104 101 126 556 NBC Robert Bazell Medicine 312 I-War 0 1602 1353 879 1131 1157 244 80 NBC Chuck Todd White House 288 A-Total 460 81 106 103 104 101 154 735 NBC Tom Costello DC Bureau 242 I-Total 817 2560 1700 1101 878 731 190 169 CBS Anthony Mason Economy 223 NORMAL POST-ELECTION BELTWAY PEAK NBC Savannah Guthrie White House 202 year (mins) 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 ABC David Muir Domestic 197 Politics (non-electoral) 3631 2444 3260 2855 3533 CBS Nancy Cordes Capitol Hill 194 Preceding 3-year Avg 1935 2692 2633 1930 2066 NBC Pete Williams Justice 176 Difference +1696 -248 +627 +914 +1467 ABC Jonathan Karl Capitol Hill 173 CBS Ben Tracy Domestic 163 HEALTHCARE, ‘FLU & THE LOUSY ECONOMY ABC Betsy Stark Economy 163 mins Total ABC CBS NBC NBC Kelly O’Donnell Capitol Hill 163 Health & Medicine 2009 1883 597 636 652 CBS David Martin Pentagon 159 Economy 2009 2785 905 1002 876 ABC Lisa Stark DC Bureau 158 H&M 1988-2008 Annual Avg 962 328 318 316 ABC Brian Ross Investigative Unit 157 Econ 1988-2008 Annual Avg 1483 477 498 509 NBC Lee Cowan Domestic 153 Total coverage for the year’s weekday nightly newscasts was CBS Sharyl Attkisson Investigative/Capitol 152 14,825 minutes (ABC 4741, CBS 5019, NBC 5066) NBC Richard Engel Foreign Bureau 152
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