Survey: Katrina Tops Most Talked-About News Stories
Topping the list of most-talked about news stories in the United States this year was Hurricane Katrina, according to a recent poll.
Topping the list of most-talked about news stories in the United States this year was Hurricane Katrina, according to a recent poll.
A poll commissioned by LexisNexis, a data and information company, surveyed more than 1,500 people and found that 97 percent of Americans rated the catastrophic Gulf Coast storm the most talked about event at their home or office in 2005.
The exposure of rising poverty within national borders, failures of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and governmental response, and unprecedented relief efforts from church groups and Christian agencies have kept Katrina in the news and in heated controversial talks since its landfall in August.
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Second on the list was the spike in gasoline and oil prices with 88 percent. The war in Iraq followed in ranking ahead of the nearly one-year-old tsunami disaster that killed an estimated 90,000 people in Banda Aceh, Indonesia alone.
The London terrorist bombings came in fifth with 36 percent and following closely behind were the U.S. Supreme Court nominations.
"The most talked about stories in 2005 included events that happened in prior years, but had such significance that news sources carried them into the New Year," said Elizabeth Rector, senior vice president of Corporate and Federal Markets for LexisNexis. "Today, Americans receive news from a growing number of sources, and the impact and influence of the media’s effect on public opinion only continues to rise.”
Much of the most-talked about news stories have been picked up by faith leaders and Christian agencies whose voices and actions spoke loudly over the past year.
Churches and Christian relief organizations have contributed significantly to the Katrina and tsunami disaster response with committed relief and recovery works and hundreds of millions of dollars in collected donations. Their devoted works amid the failures and complaints around federal response, particularly in the Gulf Coast, have brought larger media attention to the local Christian groups including Church World Service and smaller community churches.
The recent survey was conducted during the month of November 2005. The top ten list also included the Terri Schiavo right-to-life battle and Hollywood stories.
