According to the project for Excellence in Journalism’s weekly News Coverage Index, which breaks down the major stories in mainstream newspapers, Web sites, and news programs each week, the week of May 13-18 “marked the first time in 2007 that the bloodshed in Iraq—which filled 10% of the overall newshole—was the biggest story of the week.” Leading the coverage of Iraq last week was the search for the three missing American soldiers, who have reportedly been captured by Al Qaeda following a May 12 ambush. PEJ says that over half of the stories last week were about the search.


The week marked one of those rare occasions when actual events on the ground in Iraq received more coverage than the political battles in Washington over the war, PEJ notes—which is a bitter commentary on how little the American public is really being told about what our troops are doing over there. We’ve said it before, but the media can do better, and must do better in covering the war as it is being lived by both American troops and the Iraqi people.