Finally, coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign cooled off a little bit, as measured by the Project for Excellence in Journalism during the week of 4/7/08-4/13/08. It still picked up 41% and 33% from cable and radio journalists, respectively, but managed a mere 23% overall, and was not even the top story for a change at two other media, online and network TV.
And the usual second-place story, the sad state of the US economy, was knocked all the way down to #7 with a 3% share of available time and space. The General Petraeus/Ambassador Crocker show on Capitol Hill fueled the Iraq policy debate to a 10% share, good for #2, and the constant attacks by Tibet sympathizers on the Olympic torch made it the #3 story for the week.
The campaign story figures to heat right back up, with the key Pennsylvania primary now less than a week away.
| Story | Overall | Newspr | Online | NetTV | CATV | Radio |
| 2008 campaign | 23% | 15% | 11% | 11% | 41% | 33% |
| Iraq policy | 10% | 7% | 10% | 14% | 11% | 12% |
| Olympics | 9% | 8% | 18% | 9% | 6% | 3% |
| TX polygamy raid | 7% | x | 10% | 14% | 9% | x |
| Plane safety | 6% | 7% | 7% | 10% | 3% | 4% |
| Iraq events | 4% | 8% | 6% | 2% | 3% | x |
| US economy | 3% | 7% | 3% | 2% | x | 3% |
| Immigration | 3% | 4% | x | 2% | 4% | 2% |
| Marine murder suspect | 3% | x | 6% | x | 6% | x |
| Tornadoes/storms | 2% | 2% | 3% | 2% | x | x |
| Pope visit | x | 2% | x | x | x | x |
| Domestic terrorisn | X | 2% | x | x | x | 2% |
| War on terror | x | x | 3% | x | x | x |
| World food shortage | x | x | x | 2% | x | x |
| Congressional corruption | x | x | x | x | 2% | x |
| Iran | x | x | x | x | 1% | x |
| Global warming | x | x | x | x | x | 5% |
| Energy debate | x | x | x | x | x | 3% |
| Iraq homefront | x | x | x | x | x | 2% |
Source: Project for Excellence in Journalism
