Of course, in a way, the financial crisis feeds directly into the national conversation about the 2008 election, but in terms of direct media coverage, the travails on Wall Street are getting more play than the battle between John McCain and Barack Obama.
According to the Project for Excellence in Journalism charts for 9/29/08-10/5/08, it was bailout 45%, election 34%. Even cable followed suit, despite its track record of going into election tunnel-vision-mode. Radio news picked up that baton and ran with it, however, with a near perfect reversal of the overall media newshole allocation, giving the election a 45%-35% win over the bailout.
The discovery of the remains of Steve Fossett managed a two-share on the overall chart; no other story topped 1%.
| Story | Overall | Newspaper | Online | Net.TV | CATV | Radio |
| Financial crisis/bailout | 45% | 47% | 43% | 43% | 49% | 35% |
| 2008 campaign | 34% | 22% | 28% | 36% | 47% | 45% |
| Steve Fossett | 2% | x | 5% | 2% | <1% | 1% |
| US economy | 1% | x | 2% | 2% | x | 1% |
| Pakistan | 1% | 2% | 2% | 1% | <1% | <1% |
| Immigration | 1% | 4% | x | x | x | x |
| Events in Iraq | 1% | 2% | x | x | x | x |
| Afghanistan | 1% | 2% | x | x | x | x |
| Ted Stevens trial | 1% | x | 2% | x | <1% | 1% |
| Paul Newman dies | 1% | x | x | 3% | x | 1% |
| Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac | x | 2% | x | x | x | x |
| Bloomberg 3rd NYC term | x | 1% | x | x | x | x |
| OJ Simpson | x | 1% | x | x | x | 1% |
| Baseball playoffs | x | 1% | x | 1% | x | <1% |
| Georgia/Russia conflict | x | x | 1% | x | x | x |
| Hurricane Ike | x | x | 1% | 1% | <1% | x |
| Tropical Storm Kyle | x | x | 1% | x | x | x |
| Chinese product recalls | x | x | 1% | x | x | x |
| Alberto Gonzalez scandals | x | x | x | 1% | x | x |
| Gas/oil prices | x | x | x | 1% | <1% | x |
| Iraq policy debate | x | x | x | x | <1% | x |
| Iran | x | x | x | x | <1% | x |
| War on terror | x | x | x | x | <1% | x |
| North Korea | x | x | x | x | x | <1% |
Source: Project for Excellence in Journalism
