The Project for Excellence study of campaign coverage found Sen. Barack Obama was a “significant or dominant factor in 69% of the campaign stories last week,” (Feb. 25-Mar. 2) the highest amount of coverage for any candidate this year. Sen. Hillary Clinton was a factor in 58% of the stories.
The PEJ says, “The media scrutinized everything from [Obama’s] legislative record to his connections to Louis Farrakhan, and frequently addressed the question of whether journalists have been too soft on the frontrunner.” The Clinton coverage “focused on her being a candidate firmly in combat mode.”
Last week the media focused nearly four times as much attention on Democrats (68%) than Republicans (15%). But at 38% of the overall newshole, the campaign accounted for its smallest share of overall weekly news coverage since the PEJ’s Campaign Coverage Index was launched in early January.