The race for coverage

     This morning's pile of e-mail included one of my favorites -- the weekly report from Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, on what the Campaign Coverage Index found regarding last week's coverage the presidential candidates.

     Obviously, the New York Times' controversial article about McCain and McCain's response shook up the coverage numbers. Here's a look at the fallout, according to Rosenstiel's summary:

     "Barack Obama (57%) won the race for media exposure and cemented his status as frontrunner in the Democratic primary fight, according to the campaign media narrative last week. Hillary Clinton was a close second, registering as a significant or dominant factor in 50% of the coverage. But much of that coverage suggested a campaign in trouble, one that might not be capable of stopping Obama’s momentum, according to a Project for Excellence in Journalism study.

     "With the GOP race effectively over after Super Tuesday, the media paid about twice as much attention to the Democrats (59%) as Republicans (29%) from Feb.18-24. But by the end of the week, the press had shifted focus to GOP frontrunner John McCain, who registered in 38% of the coverage. The catalyst was the highly controversial Feb. 21 New York Times article suggesting an improper relationship eight years ago between McCain and a younger female lobbyist.

     "McCain aggressively disputed the story, which generated considerable criticism in the media world. Once the Times story broke, it became a major part of the campaign narrative and from Feb. 21- Feb. 24, McCain was the leading newsmaker among candidates, registering in 51% of the campaign stories, compared to Clinton’s 43% and Obama’s 41%, in that period.

     "The Project for Excellence in Journalism’s Campaign Coverage Index—which will appear weekly until the party nominees are selected—also finds that:

     "-- McCain (38%) was third in the competition for lead newsmaker for Feb. 18-24, up from 34% the previous week.

     "-- Obama appeared as significant or dominant newsmaker in 57% of stories, his highest level of coverage since the Index launched in January. Clinton earned her second-highest level of coverage at 50%.

     "-- Mike Huckabee was a significant or dominant newsmaker in only 4% of last week’s stories, a 14 point drop from the previous CCI report.

     "-- Fully 44% of the newshole was filled with campaign stories, a 10% increase over the week before. Cable news devoted 69% of airtime to the election; radio 53%."

     -- David House

Comments

[annevilla]

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As the composer, Bjarne O., writes:

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YES WE CAN - ALL OF US TOGETHER

Anne