Almost solely by virtue of getting coverage across the media board, the 2008 campaign edged out four other stories to sit atop the Project for Excellence in Journalism rankings for the week of 2/25/07-3/2/07. It only occupied 7% of the news hole, compared to 6% each for Iraq policy, Iraq homefront (remember that Walter Reed item that's still eating a big chunk of coverage time?), the tornado blitz in the south and the drop in the stock market. Events in Iraq consumed 5% and Afghanistan 4%, and when taken together it's clear that the situation in the Mideast still dominated coverage. Interestingly, all five media had a different top story. Newspapers went with 2008 campaign (7%), online with events in Iraq (11%), network TV with the Iraq homefront (12%), cable with tornadoes (10%) and radio solidly with Iraq policy (17%). The tornado story was the biggest newcomer, and will no doubt be the biggest to leave the chart next week, unless Mother Nature has an encore in her repertoire. The top story to leave the overall top ten was the Libby trial (it showed up only on the online chart) - look for a resurgence on that one next week. Anna Nicole Smith managed to remain in the top 10 for another week, thanks again to cable, which still found it to warrant 9% of its time. The 20 distinct stories getting at least one mention on the media charts was an increase of three over the prior week.
Top ten lists
| Story |
Overall |
Newspr |
Online |
NetTV |
CATV |
Radio |
| 2008 campaign |
7% |
7% |
8% |
6% |
8% |
7% |
| Iraq policy |
6% |
2% |
6% |
3% |
8% |
17% |
| Iraq homefront |
6% |
6% |
4% |
12% |
5% |
2% |
| Tornadoes |
6% |
x |
6% |
11% |
10% |
x |
| Stock drop |
6% |
6% |
4% |
9% |
4% |
6% |
| Iraq events |
5% |
5% |
11% |
6% |
x |
4% |
| Afghanistan |
4% |
x |
6% |
7% |
6% |
x |
| Anna Nicole Smith |
4% |
x |
x |
3% |
9% |
x |
| War on terror |
3% |
x |
x |
3% |
4% |
3% |
| Oscars |
3% |
3% |
5% |
x |
x |
7% |
| Iran |
x |
6% |
x |
x |
x |
x |
| Immigration |
x |
3% |
x |
x |
4% |
4% |
| North Korea |
x |
3% |
x |
x |
x |
x |
| US economy |
x |
3% |
x |
x |
x |
x |
| Libby trial |
x |
x |
4% |
x |
x |
x |
| Snowstorms |
x |
x |
4% |
x |
x |
x |
| HPVcancer vaccine |
x |
x |
x |
4% |
x |
x |
| Baseball bus crash |
x |
x |
x |
x |
5% |
x |
| Global warming |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
7% |
| Katrina |
x |
x |
x |
x |
x |
3% |
Source: Project for Excellence in Journalism
