The 2008 election surged past the 50% mark again during the week of 1/28/08-2/3/08, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, fueled by cable, which invested over three fourths of its time to the topic. The wired media was aided and abetted by its two airborne competitors, with radio pounding the story to the tune of 59% and network TV just under the overall total at 49%. The troubled economy made a repeat visit to the #2 slot, and once again, it only took a 2% share of the news hole to get a piece of 4th place.
A brand new story claimed the #3 slot, the once-a-year coverage of the State of the Union speech. It took the place of a #3 story which was also a one-time event, the passing of actor Heath Ledger, which completely disappeared from the chart. Iraq and other Mideast coverage, which for almost all of 2007 could be counted on to dominate the news in aggregate, has almost disappeared from the scene. Combined coverage of Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan stood at 5% for the week, a far cry from the 25% three Mideast stories consumed a year ago.
| Story | Overall | Newspr | Online | NetTV | CATV | Radio |
| 2008 campaign | 51% | 33% | 35% | 49% | 76% | 59% |
| US economy | 7% | 7% | 8% | 11% | 4% | 4% |
| State of the Union | 6% | 8% | 8% | 2% | 5% | 8% |
| Kenya elections/violence | 2% | 1% | 7% | 1% | x | 1% |
| Afghanistan | 2% | 3% | 3% | x | 1% | 1% |
| Iraq events | 2% | x | 5% | 3% | x | 1% |
| Super Bowl | 2% | 3% | x | 1% | 1% | x |
| China | 1% | x | 3% | 2% | 2% | x |
| War on terror | 1% | 3% | x | x | x | x |
| Pakistan | 1% | 1% | 3% | x | x | x |
| Health care | x | 1% | x | x | x | x |
| Immigration | x | 1% | x | x | 1% | x |
| Mormon Hinckley passes | x | x | 4% | x | x | <1% |
| Microsoft/Yahoo | x | x | 2% | x | x | <1% |
| Britney Spears | x | x | x | 2% | x | x |
| Iraq homefront | x | x | x | 2% | x | 1% |
| Domestic terrorism | x | x | x | 1% | 1% | 2% |
| Natalee Holloway | x | x | x | x | 1% | x |
| Hurricane Katrina | x | x | x | x | 1% | x |
Source: Project for Excellence in Journalism
