Dominik Stecula sends the following:
A relatively recent episode of “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart discussed the surprisingly infrequent media coverage of Ron Paul, especially considering his strong showing at the Ames Straw Poll. Paul’s campaign even issued a statement about their disappointment with that lack of coverage. Was Jon Stewart right? Using Lexis Nexis, I counted searched the New York Times, Washington Post and Politico for stories mentioning Paul as well as phrases such as “republican primary,” “presidential candidate” or “Republican presidential field.” Below are the results. Consistently with Pew’s recent findings, only Herman Cain and Rick Santorum received comparably little coverage in the period between January 1 and August 18. 2011. Newt Gingrich received more media attention than Ron Paul, despite much lower levels of public support. Sarah Palin, despite not being a declared candidate, enjoyed media attention comparable to that of Michele Bachmann, the winner at Ames.