【正确答案】 1、the amount of coverage    

【答案解析】[定位] 由题于关键词where to place a story and whether to cover it定位到最后一段第二、三句。
[解析] Similarly，media determine the placement of a story…Finally，the media ascertain whether to cover a story at all and the amount of coverage to be devoted to it媒体能够决定将一个报道放在什么位置；是否进行报道；报道的覆盖面有多广等。