The 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks topped the public’s news interest last week, but Americans also continued to closely track news about the nation’s struggling economy.

About a quarter (27%) say they followed coverage of the solemn 9/11 anniversary more closely than any other news. Nearly as many (23%) say they followed news about the economy most closely. Another 13% cite President Obama’s speech to Congress to unveil his jobs plan as their top story, according to the latest weekly News Interest Index survey, conducted Sept. 8-11 by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press among 1,010 adults.

These two topics – the 9/11 anniversary and the economy’s troubles – also topped media coverage. News about the anniversary and developments related to terror on the home front together accounted for 18% of coverage, according to the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ). News about the economy made up a total of 28% of the newshole. About two thirds of that (19% of all coverage) focused on Obama’s Sept. 8 jobs speech, while 9% focused on economic news more generally. 

Read the full report, 9/11 Commemorations Capture Public Attention, on the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press' Web site.