The recent difficulty in getting newspaper coverage for clients has
been confirmed by figures from Durrants Press Cuttings showing that up
to 40 per cent of all UK newspapers have been filled with news about
Diana, Princess of Wales over the four weeks following her death.
Although the agency estimates that an average of 30 per cent of papers’
column inches are still filled with news emanating from the Princess’s
death, the coverage has reached peaks of 40 per cent when special
supplements and souvenir issues are taken into account.
The vast amount of coverage has led Durrants to conclude that Diana’s
death is the biggest news story for over one hundred years - Durrants’
cuttings archives go back to 1880.
’The nearest one can get to this level of media exposure takes us back
to the 1940s and World War Two,’ said Durrants managing director Tony
Law. ’But not even the major events of that period such as the outbreak
of war, Dunkirk or VE Day achieved anywhere near the press coverage
devoted to Diana.’
