The Georgia/Russia conflict briefly knocked Campaign 2008 off the top of the Project for Excellence in Journalism media coverage chart, but it was right back on top during the week on 8/14/08-8/24/08 on the eve of the Democratic National Convention. VP speculation was rampant all week, replaced on Saturday 8/23/08 with some veep analysis as Barack Obama revealed his selection of Joe Biden (D-DE). It all propelled the campaign theme to the top of the chart with 35% of the news hole.
Georgia/Russia was still hot enough to hang on to the #3 slot behind the final week of the Olympics. With renewed interest in the state of the US economy, a major political development in Pakistan and a tropical storm to keep tabs on, there was less than the usual amount of attention lavished on other stories by one individual medium or another.
| Story | Overall | Newspaper | Online | Net.TV | CATV | Radio |
| 2008 campaign | 35% | 24% | 25% | 21% | 60% | 46% |
| Olympics | 10% | 13% | 10% | 22% | x | 6% |
| Georgia/Russia conflict | 8% | 9% | 14% | 4% | 6% | 5% |
| Tropical storm Fay | 7% | x | 16% | 11% | 7% | 3% |
| Pakistan | 5% | 6% | 8% | 4% | 2% | 6% |
| Events in Iraq | 3% | 7% | 5% | x | x | x |
| US economy | 3% | 4% | x | 4% | 1% | 4% |
| Madrid plane crash | 2% | x | 2% | 3% | 1% | 1% |
| Russia | 1% | x | 3% | 3% | 1% | x |
| Missing girl in FL | 1% | x | 2% | x | 4% | x |
| Afghanistan | x | 2% | 2% | x | x | 1% |
| Anthrax case | x | 2% | x | x | x | x |
| Gas/oil prices | x | 2% | x | 2% | x | x |
| Energy debate | x | 2% | x | x | x | 3% |
| Iraq homefront | x | x | x | 2% | x | x |
| Tubbs Jones dies | x | x | x | x | 2% | x |
| Immigration | x | x | x | x | 2% | x |
| Grand Canyon flooding | x | x | x | x | x | 1% |
| Source: Project for Excellence in Journalism | ||||||
