Democrats Convention and Palin VP Pick Fuel Election Coverage

Coverage of the 2008 Presidential campaign reached its highest level last week with the drama-filled Democratic convention and the stunning Republican choice of a running mate. When it was over, the campaign filled 69% of the overall newshole from Aug. 25-Aug. 31, according to the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. That represents, by a substantial margin, the highest level of weekly election coverage since PEJ began tracking it in January 2007. The previous high was 55% the week of Super Tuesday. Last week also kicked off a new phase of the campaign with Election Day looming two months away. From June 9 through Aug. 24—the so-called summer doldrums when voters prefer the beach to politics—the campaign accounted for 27% of the overall newshole examined by PEJ. Last week, with the convention season underway and the VP selections completed, that total more than doubled.