Breaking Down the News: June

Justice Anthony Kennedy, who retired from the Supreme Court on June 27, talking with President Donald Trump.

Image courtesy of Tom Williams, Getty Images

Daily News Breakdown

In some ways, the breaking news stories in June seemed more consistent than previous months I've covered. A lot of the stories fell into the same broad categories and a few major players repeatedly appeared in the cycle. The Supreme Court is the most obvious example. Even before Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement, their decisions were regularly generating headlines and getting attention from the national press. This is what you'd hope from one of the three branches of government, especially since they only rule on cases during a select portion of the year. What the court says about religious discrimination or union lawsuits becomes the law of the land.

There are other examples of the patterns of coverage that really emerged this month. Almost every Tuesday in June was marked by primaries or midterm elections. The horrors of family separation at the border and children being detained on their own also became a deserving regular part of the news cycle. Add in the normal coverage of Trump and high-profile deaths that happens every month and the daily breakdown seems fairly standard.

Most Popular News Topics

• It says a lot about how much the Supreme Court did this month that their coverage topped the historic summit between the US and North Korea. This is the first time this year that two topics generated more than 15 headlines within a month. One was a slow month-long rollout of constant headlines, while the other was the fallout of a singular major event.

• A few interesting elements within those stories about the midterm elections. There was only one race in June that got coverage from both Fox and the Times- the primary for the California governor's race. It was also the only specific race that got an alert from the New York Times- of their three stories, the other two were more big-picture approaches. This means that Fox News had the only alert about the shocking Ocasio-Cortez victory in New York.

• How many elements of the Comey/ FBI story have been covered to this point? Book publishing, text message scandals, secret affairs, House investigations. It's remarkable how constantly that story has changed without providing an outcome anywhere near as concrete as the Special Counsel.

• This was my first month doing this while also working in a newsroom. Being with the Journal-News and writing in their newsroom has been an excellent learning experience. It also made the shooting in Baltimore hit especially close to home. That story was tough to hear about, though the fact they published a full issue the day afterward the tragedy is an inspiring moment.

Differences in Coverage by Outlet