2024's chaotic news cycles in one chart
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This year's epic, relentless news cycles were driven by months of near-unprecedented political violence and uncertainty — plus the Olympics, according to Axios' annual analysis of Google Trends data.
Why it matters: Even in a wild election year, America's short attention span for news led to dramatic ups and downs in search trends as the media pivoted from one major story to the next.
The big picture: The Paris Games were the news event that saw the largest spike in interest compared to the others analyzed by Axios.
- The election itself — peaking on Nov. 5 — and the Pennsylvania assassination attempt targeting Donald Trump were runners-up.
- On the lighter side, the next two biggest peaks were for the total solar eclipse in April and Mike Tyson's return to boxing against YouTuber Jake Paul.
Zoom in: Only a small handful of people and news events managed to hold public attention over long-term periods.
- Trump, of course, was one of them. He became the first former president convicted of felony crimes, survived two assassination attempts and was the first Republican to win the popular vote in two decades.
- Attention on President Biden shot up after his catastrophic debate performance in June and peaked around July 21, when he dropped out of the race and endorsed Vice President Harris after weeks of not-so-private pushing from a prominent group of Democrats.
- Elon Musk attracted search interest all year — but it boomed in October and early November as he unleashed unprecedented sums of cash to get Trump elected and personally campaigned in Pennsylvania.
- Israel and Gaza received consistent attention year-round but was rarely the top search at any given moment.
Among celebrities and athletes, Taylor Swift once again commanded an outsize share of attention.
- The deaths of O.J. Simpson and former One Direction singer Liam Payne made them two of the most searched people of the year.
- Search interest in Sean "Diddy" Combs peaked twice, once when federal agents raided his home in March and again after federal prosecutors charged him with sex trafficking and racketeering in September.
What we're watching: Trump-driven news cycles — backed by the power of the White House bully pulpit — could be like nothing we've seen in the last four years.
Go deeper: Revisit the moments that shaped the election.
