The Lifespan of News Stories
15 days ago
- #media
- #public attention
- #search trends
- Public attention is a resource in the 'attention economy' with media trust at an all-time low.
- Google search interest is used to gauge public attention to news events.
- News stories are categorized into Politics & Elections, Natural Catastrophes, Environment & Science, Social Issues, Violence & War, and Obituaries.
- Regional differences in search interest reflect localized impact, e.g., Hurricane Florence searches concentrated in affected areas.
- National events like the 2018 Midterm elections show uniform search interest across the U.S.
- Search trend shapes indicate the nature of attention: symmetrical for anticipated events (North Korea Summit), left-skewed for fleeting events (blood moon), right-skewed for unexpected events (Anthony Bourdain's death), and bimodal for events with secondary reactions (government shutdown).
- Different patterns of search interest include steady climb/fall (anticipated events), slow climb/quick fall (simple conclusions), quick climb/slow fall (unexpected events), and multiple peaks (secondary reactions).