The CBC has released an interim report (PDF) into its news content across television, radio and online.

CBC News editor-in-chief Jennifer McGuire said the News Balance Report “adds to a considerable body of research we use to ensure our journalism continues its leading role in establishing and performing to best industry practices.”

Among the areas covered by the report is a comparison of the issues covered by TV, radio and online. The study found that broadcast ranked the top stories in a similar manner.

However, CBCNews.ca gave more coverage to crime and economic news than TV and radio, and less to political news. It also devoted more space to disaster stories and health than radio or TV. (The Haiti earthquake and H1N1 happened during the period studied.)

The study found slightly less diversity of the issues covered online than in broadcast. The five top issues account for 59% of all internet coverage, compared to 50% of radio and 48% of television coverage.

The time was measured by time for radio and television and by word count for the internet.

The current report is based on a 10-week sample of television, radio and internet news between October 26, 2009 and January 17, 2010.