Housing prices in March rose at the highest annual level since April 2006, a sign of positive economic development that went largely underreported by cable news networks.
REPORT: Cable News Gives Housing Price Surge Less Than 10 Minutes Of Coverage
Published
Housing Prices Surge
Housing Prices Rise Above 10 Percent In March. According to the Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller index of housing prices, March experienced a greater than 10 percent annual increase in home prices. From S&P:
The S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, which covers all nine U.S. census divisions, recorded a 10.2% gain in the first quarter of 2013 over the first quarter of 2012. In March 2013, the 10- and 20-City Composites posted annual increases of 10.3% and 10.9%, respectively. [Standard & Poor's, 5/28/13]
Business Insider: Housing Prices Rose At Fastest Rate Since 2006. According to a May 28 Business Insider article, the March 2013 Case-Shiller index showed “the fastest pace of increase since April 2006.” [Business Insider, 5/28/13]
Cable Networks Underreport Rising Housing Prices
Cable Networks Spend Less Than 10 Minutes Total Discussing Report. In the day following the release of the Case-Shiller housing index report, CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC spent a total of nine minutes and 32 seconds discussing the increase in housing prices.
CNN Leads In Housing Price Coverage. Of the three major cable news networks, CNN spent the most time discussing the report, with six minutes and 17 seconds. MSNBC covered the report for one minute and 57 seconds, with Fox News spending the least amount of time at one minute and 18 seconds.
Methodology
Media Matters searched internal TV archives and closed captioning as well as the TVEyes database for the terms “house, ”housing," “home,” and “Case-Shiller” from 8:00 a.m. on May 28 to 9:00 a.m. on May 29 for all Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC shows.
Reruns and teases for upcoming segments were excluded.