Obama dominates coverage

     Presidential election coverage last week was mostly about Barack Obama, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism Campaign Coverage Index results released today.

      "Given his central involvement in both major story lines, Obama was the top newsmaker ... from April 14-20," PEJ reported.

     "He was a significant or dominant factor in 76% of the campaign stories, a large leap from the previous week when he registered at 46%. Clinton, at 59%, trailed Obama, but even that was up a bit from her 56% total a week earlier.

     "After watching his media coverage climb recently, GOP candidate John McCain fell back to 24% last week, a drop of 11 points from the week before. (All told, the Democrats generated almost six times as many stories as the Republicans last week.)

     "For McCain, that coverage was mixed. He received substantial attention for the economic plan he unveiled on April 15. But as the week went on, McCain found himself dealing not with fiscal policy, but with two lingering personal issues—his age and his temper."

     -- David House