We would not have been at all surprised to see saturation coverage of the presidential election during the week of 10/27/08-11/2/08. As it was, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, the ongoing saga claimed 54% of total media coverage, and did saturate cable coverage as usual to the tune of 84% over on the cable channels.
The financial crisis story was second but gradually losing steam, with 13% of the overall news hole. After that, no one story could top 2%.
There was a smattering of focus on various Mideast and African locales, the Phillies v. the Rays in the World Series, and a couple of takes on Congress (elections, scandals). It will be interesting to see what a "normal" news coverage pattern looks like in a couple of weeks.
| Story | Overall | Newspaper | Online | Net.TV | CATV | Radio |
| 2008 campaign | 54% | 34% | 38% | 55% | 84% | 65% |
| Financial crisis | 13% | 19% | 19% | 14% | 6% | 11% |
| Congressional scandals | 2% | 2% | 2% | 4% | 2% | 2% |
| Events in Iraq | 2% | 4% | 2% | 2% | 1% | x |
| Hudson family killed | 2% | x | 4% | 3% | x | 1% |
| Baseball World Series | 1% | 3% | 2% | 1% | x | 1% |
| Afghanistan | 1% | 3% | x | x | 1% | x |
| Congo civil war | 1% | x | 6% | 1% | x | x |
| Pakistan | 1% | x | 3% | x | x | x |
| Congressional campaigns | 1% | 2% | x | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| Gas/oil prices | x | 2% | x | x | x | x |
| Anthrax case | x | 2% | x | x | x | x |
| Health care debate | x | 2% | x | x | x | x |
| University shooting in AR | x | x | 2% | x | x | 1% |
| US economy | x | x | 2% | x | x | 1% |
| US auto industry | x | x | x | 2% | x | 2% |
| Same sex marriage debate | x | x | x | 1% | x | x |
| Immigration | x | x | x | x | 1% | x |
| Domestic terrorism | x | x | x | x | 1% | x |
| Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac | x | x | x | x | <1% | x |
| Chinese product recalls | x | x | x | x | <1% | x |
| US airline industry | x | x | x | x | x | 1% |
Source: Project for Excellence in Journalism
