Is there a phrase that means "give a lot of attention to"? I am trying to think of a good idiomatic sounding phrase I can use, but I can't really think of one. The best phrases I could come up with were: "give the spotlight to", "turn all eyes towards", but none of them works particularly well with "story" and "media".
For example:
The media ___ the story.
You could just use the verb followed. One of that word's many meanings is:
follow (verb) to watch or observe closely
In the context of media coverage, follow often implies watching the story develop and reporting on it often. For example, in this piece about a plane crash, The American Spectator reads:
For that entire time the media followed the story with daily updates that there was “nothing new to report.”
Another legal blog discusses some very high-profile cases, and says:
People jumped on the opportunity to tear her apart. For six weeks the media followed her trial closely and completely destroyed the woman's reputation for years to come.
And in a piece about a grass roots movement for decent housing, an author chronicled:
The Tenants Union of Washington State went door to door to give tenants information on their rights. Eventually, TU organizers developed strong relationships with tenant leaders who worked with the group to ensure that the media followed the story closely.
