As official Washington gets set to take the month of August more or less off, journalists threw their attention back on the 2008 campaign.
The Project for Excellence in Journalism report for 7/21/08-7/27/08 found the election consuming 38% of available time and space, led as usual by CATV’s 63% tunnel vision. A wide number of other stories competed for coverage, a brew commonly concocted this summer from three main ingredients: economic stories spiced with gas/energy issues; foreign affairs with a heavy Mideast flavor; and weather/disaster stories.
The capture of a war criminal in Belgrade and the case of a missing girl in Florida also managed to attract a measurable share of attention.
| Stories | Overall | Newspaper | Online | Net.TV | CATV | Radio |
| 2008 campaign | 38% | 20% | 32% | 38% | 63% | 37% |
| US economy | 6% | 8% | 8% | 9% | 4% | 3% |
| Hurricane Dolly | 5% | x | 10% | 9% | 5% | 3% |
| Karadzic arrested | 4% | 4% | 7% | 3% | 1% | 3% |
| Gas/oil prices | 2% | 4% | 1% | 1% | 2% | 4% |
| Missing girl in FL | 2% | x | x | 4% | 6% | x |
| Immigration | 2% | 3% | 2% | x | 3% | x |
| Olympics | 2% | 2% | x | 1% | x | 5% |
| Cyberspace issues | 1% | 4% | x | x | 1% | x |
| Domestic terrorism | 1% | x | x | 3% | x | 2% |
| WaPo Levy series | x | 3% | x | x | x | x |
| Events in Iraq | x | 3% | x | x | x | x |
| Global warming | x | 3% | x | x | x | x |
| Warren Jeffs indicted | x | x | 2% | x | x | x |
| Qantas jet emergency | x | x | 2% | 2% | x | x |
| Iraq homefront | x | x | 2% | x | x | x |
| Afghanistan | x | x | 1% | x | x | 3% |
| Iran | x | x | x | 1% | 1% | x |
| Tomatoes/salmonella | x | x | x | x | 1% | x |
| China | x | x | x | x | x | 3% |
| Energy debate | x | x | x | x | x | 2% |
Source: Project for Excellence in Journalism
