The Economist - USA (2021-12-18)

TheEconomistDecember18th 2021

Graphic detail The year in news

69

If it spreads,

it’s read

B

y onemeasurethecovid­19pandemic

is the biggest story of the past 75 years.

In 2020 nearly half of articles in The Econo-

mistmentioned  it,  the  highest  share  for  a

single subject since the second world war.

This year news consumers’ attention shift­

ed to a wider array of issues. Yet according

to  Chartbeat,  a  firm  that  measures  online

readership, covid still held the public’s in­

terest more steadily than any other topic.

Chartbeat tracks how many hours audi­

ences  spend  on  each  story  published  by

7,000 news sites, mostly in English­speak­

ing countries. We have calculated the total

reading time for articles covering 45 events

in  2021.  Whereas  interest  in  other  topics

tended to surge and fade, covid command­

ed  constant  attention.  Stories  about  vac­

cines  amassed  43m  of  the  275m  total

hours; those on the leading variants of the

sars­cov­2 virus got a further 27m.

The only subject whose total readership

rivalled covid’s was America’s presidential

transition. It yielded three spikes in inter­

est, set off by the riot at the Capitol build­

ing,  Joe  Biden’s  inauguration  and  Donald

Trump’s second impeachment. They com­

bined for 60m hours in January and Febru­

ary, which was by far the highest peak.

Beyond these events, audiences spread

their attention broadly. One other political

story, America’s withdrawal from Afghani­

stan,  gripped  readers  in  August.  In  less

weighty matters, audiences lapped up arti­

cles  about  sporting  events  like  the  Tokyo

Olympics,  football  tournaments  and  the

victory  of  Emma  Raducanu,  a  British  ten­

nis player, in the usOpen. They also found

respite in stories on Oprah Winfrey’s inter­

view  with  Prince  Harry  and  Meghan,the

end  of  Britney  Spears’s  conservatorship

and Daniel Craig’s final James Bond film.n

Covid-19 and America’s presidential

transition got the most attention

Dailyhoursofreadershipaboutselectedtopicsin 2021

Politics Covid-19 Sport& culture Death& destruction Other

UEFAEuro 2020

TokyoOlympics

LionelMessi

Afghanistanwar

HurricaneIda

EmmaRaducanu

GabbyPetitomurder

JamesBond

Facebook/Meta

ColinPowell

AlecBaldwinsetshooting

COP2summit

EricAdams

USInfrastructurebill

AstroworldFestivaldeaths

Kenoshashootings

PengShuai

AndrewCuomo

USinflation

British/Alphavariant

Indian/Deltavariant

Omicronvariant

Covid-19vaccines

Source:Chartbeat

ElonMusk

VladimirPutin

Bitcoin

BorisJohnson

Germanfederalelection

Kentuckytornado

Capitolriot

Trumpimpeachedagain

Bideninauguration

GameStopshare-pricesurge

Myanmarcoup

BritneySpears

StormUri

Irannuclearnegotiations

Oprah-Sussexesinterview

EverGivenblocksSuezcanal

HenryBoreldeathinBrazil

PrincePhilip

GeorgeFloydmurder

EuropeanSuperLeague

Israel-Palestine

Surfsidebuildingcollapse

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV

Italy defeat England in men’s final

Leaves Barcelona for Paris St-Germain

Steps down as NY governor

Kyle Rittenhouse acquitted of murder

Airlift from Kabul airport

Olaf Scholz leads SDP to victory

1m hours

“No Time to Die” premiere

Wins US Open

Whistleblower reveals identity

Dies aged 84

Elected NYC mayor

$1trn bill signed into law

Build-up of troops by Ukrainian border

Christmas-party revelations

Dies aged 99

Conservatorship ends

Israel bombs Gaza for 15 days

Derek Chauvin convicted