According to the new Campaign Coverage Index by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, last week “cable news devoted 74% of airtime to the election despite significant breaking events such as the Chinese earthquake and ongoing coverage of the Myanmar cyclone.”
Beyond cable, “stories about the race for president captured 37% of the overall newshole last week. “
Another recent PEJ finding: 3:1 is “roughly the amount of coverage Michelle Obama has received this year compared to Cindy McCain.” But “the attention given both wives is dwarfed in comparison to that given the other political spouse this season, former President Bill Clinton. The husband of candidate Hillary Clinton appeared as a lead newsmaker in nearly four times as many stories (298) as the other spouses combined (78).”
Liz Cox Barrett is a writer at CJR.