War Takes center Stage of Campaign Coverage

According to the Campaign Coverage Index of Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism for the week of July 14-20, more than one-third of the campaign coverage last week focused on Iraq and Afghanistan and Sen Barack Obama's trip to the Middle East. The week was also the sixth straight since the general election began in which Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, Obama, enjoyed a distinct advantage in the race for exposure over the presumptive Republican nominee, John McCain. Last week, Obama was a significant presence in 83% of campaign stories studied, vs. McCain in 52%. (To be a significant presence in a story, 25% of the story must be about that person.)