Opinion: Democratic unity topped the news of the week

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Our cousins over at The Swamp picked up on this study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism. You can get the details over there but the graphic sums it up quite nicely.

What sparked this dominance? The Unity, N.H., appearance by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. It’s a bit surprising, though, that the role of Bill Clinton was so light compared to the other mentions, since the former president is the major subtext to the Clinton campaign and Democratic unity.

According to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, ‘The wide gap in coverage between Obama and McCain can be attributed to several factors. In addition to Obama’s efforts to unite his party, other story lines continued to generate press attention. Last week, James Dobson‘s accusation that the Democratic hopeful’s view of the Bible is distorted -- and Obama’s response -- filled 6% of the news hole. Rumors about Obama’s religion coupled with Karl Rove’s charge that he is an elitist helped lift various controversies surrounding Obama and his campaign to 11% of the coverage last week.’

-- Scott Martelle