Jeremiah Wright Was Biggest Newsmaker

Last week -- as Chicago minister Jeremiah Wright re-emerged into full public view to speak to PBS’ Bill Moyers, the NAACP and the National Press Club -- the controversy he generated made more news than both Sens Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and John McCain (R-AZ). Sen Clinton was a significant or dominant factor in 41% of the campaign stories and Sen McCain registered in 14% of them. Meanwhile the relationship between Wright and his former parishioner Sen Barack Obama (D-IL) accounted for 42% of the week’s campaign coverage. Sen Obama, who moved to decisively denounce Wright last week, was the significant or dominant newsmaker in 69% of the stories, according to PEJ’s News Coverage Index for April 28-May 4. These coverage numbers are strikingly similar to those from March 17-23 when Wright’s inflammatory statements about race and the U.S. triggered the first Obama damage control effort, including a major March 18 speech on race relations. That week, the Wright-Obama story line accounted for 37% of the campaign stories and Obama dominated coverage at 72%. Clinton (at 30%) and McCain (17%) were virtual afterthoughts.
http://www.journalism.org/node/10928