Well, sorta. Overall focus on the 2008 campaign dipped all the way down to 27%, and even the folks over at the cable networks dropped well below the halfway point to 43%.
In fact, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, during the week of 5//26/08-6/1/08, radio almost caught up with cable, spending 42% of its time on the election.
Of course, the big #2 story was somewhat election related. Ex-White House press secretary Scott McClelland’s tell-all book was released and easily captured the second slot on the chart with 14% — no other story made it past 3%. Diffusive coverage of Iraq, the NASA Mars mission, natural disasters and still-on-the-radar ongoing stories split the media in any number of different directions. Click the headline to see the full coverage chart.
| Story | Overall | Newspapers | Online | Net. TV | Cable TV | Radio |
| 2008 campaign | 27% | 17% | 16% | 17% | 43% | 42% |
| McClellan book | 14% | 4% | 11% | 15% | 28% | 13% |
| Chinese earthquake | 3% | 3% | 12% | x | x | x |
| US economy | 3% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 1% | 4% |
| Events in Iraq | 3% | 5% | x | 3% | 1% | 1% |
| Gas/oil prices | 2% | x | x | 7% | 1% | 2% |
| Mars Lander Phoenix | 2% | x | 6% | 4% | x | x |
| IA, MN tornadoes | 2% | x | 4% | 5% | 3% | 1% |
| Iraq homefront | 2% | 5% | x | x | x | 2% |
| Memorial Day events | 2% | x | x | 4% | x | x |
| Bear Stearns/JP Morgan | x | 4% | x | x | x | x |
| Health care debate | x | 4% | x | x | x | x |
| Immigration | x | 3% | x | x | x | x |
| Domestic terrorism | x | 3% | x | x | 1% | x |
| War on terror | x | x | 3% | x | x | x |
| Israel intl politics | x | x | 3% | x | x | x |
| Myanmar cyclone | x | x | 2% | x | x | x |
| Same-sex marriage | x | x | 2% | x | x | 4% |
| China | x | x | x | 4% | x | x |
| TX polygamy raid | x | x | x | 3% | 2% | x |
| Manhattan crane collapse | x | x | x | x | 1% | 1% |
| Iraq policy debate | x | x | x | x | 1% | x |
| Sudan/Darfur | x | x | x | x | x | 1% |
Source: Project for Excellence in Journalism
