NEW YORK, Sept. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Results from the Dow Jones Insight-2008 Presidential Election Media Pulse show that following the announcements of the Democratic and Republican vice presidential candidates, Republican nominee Sarah Palin stole the show, generating more media coverage than opponent Joe Biden and giving John McCain the media boost he has been lacking over the past several months. During the Democratic convention held August 25-28, Barack Obama had significantly widened the coverage lead he has held for most of the campaign, but McCain eclipsed him on the 29th, garnering more than 30,000 mentions in mainstream and social media after the announcement of Palin as his running mate, and McCain held the lead for the next several days. Palin's numbers are all the more notable given the general lack of coverage she has received from the media in the past. The number of mentions she received in mainstream media sources on the day of the announcement was more than four times the total she'd received for all of 2008 (1,720 mentions from January 1 through August 27), and her social media mentions that day were more than 11 times her year-to-date total of 1,142. (The next media analysis will compare press coverage of the Democratic convention with the Republican convention, currently under way in St. Paul) McCain's Surprise Vice President Selection Gets the Media Talking, Especially Bloggers When the news broke on Friday, August 29, that John McCain had tapped Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, the announcement generated quite a stir in mainstream media and, even more so, in blogs and boards. According to Dow Jones Insight, Palin received 7,989 mentions in mainstream sources on the day of the announcement - 17 percent higher than the number of mentions received by Joe Biden (6,854) on August 23, the day he was named as Obama's running mate. In social media, the difference was even greater, with Palin receiving 13,822 mentions on August 29, 65 percent higher than the 8,384 mentions Biden received on the day his nomination was announced. Furthermore, the total for Palin in social media mentions rose the day after the announcement, to 15,022 on August 30, while Biden's fell the day after his announcement, to 5,823. In mainstream media, for both candidates the number of mentions fell the day after the candidate was announced. The Vice Presidents Are Generating Talk, But About What? Experience, and Lack Thereof Given her brief 20 months in office as Alaska governor and previous role as small-town mayor, the primary topic of discussion regarding Palin has thus far been experience, or her perceived lack thereof, especially as it compares to Obama's and Biden's. Dow Jones Insight tracked the two vice presidential candidates' media coverage on the topic of "experience" and other hot-button issues: -- Of Palin's total 46,462 mentions from August 27 to September 3, 13,118, or 28 percent, were in relation to the term "experience," as Democrats derided Palin's lack of it and Republicans defended her record. -- On the issue of abortion, Palin received 7,540 mentions, or 16 percent of her total issues-related mentions, while the issue of faith garnered 6,958 mentions, or 15 percent. The topic of energy generated just 2,808 mentions, or 6 percent, despite her involvement with various key energy issues. -- The biggest driver of Biden's recent coverage has also been "experience," as Biden was mentioned in proximity to the term 11,115 times, or 31 percent of all mentions of Biden in relation to the tracked issues, for the period August 18 through September 1. -- The theme of "change," a rallying cry for the Democratic Party, also received strong coverage in regard to Biden as he was mentioned 7,569 times in close proximity to the term, or 21 percent of his total issues-related mentions. McCain Regains Lead on Foreign-Policy Issues as Candidates' Issues Coverage Rebounds Media coverage of the issues being tracked by Dow Jones Insight surged in the latest rolling one-month period as a result of the two parties' nominating conventions and vice presidential picks, but the increase seems to have helped McCain more, as he regained the lead on several foreign-policy issues that Obama had won with his trip to the Middle East and Europe earlier this summer, and drew closer on several other issues. -- For the period August 1 - September 1, the 25 tracked issues were discussed a total of 934,408 times, up 29 percent from 724,799 in the previous rolling one-month span. -- McCain took leading shares on Iraq (55 percent), Afghanistan (53 percent) and Iran (56 percent), which were led by Obama in our previous analysis, as well as on North Korea (55 percent), which had formerly been too close to call. -- McCain gained ground in terms of coverage on the economy, abortion, terrorism, education, immigration and the housing slump, all of which had been led by Obama in the last analysis and are now too close to call. -- The only issue on which McCain lost ground to Obama is same-sex marriage, which is now a statistical tie. The Dow Jones Insight-2008 Presidential Election Media Pulse provides a high-level view of a competitive media landscape and demonstrates how candidates and issues are covered in the media and how that coverage changes over time. Dow Jones Insight combines proven research methodologies, trusted content and advanced text-mining and visualization tools to deliver strategic qualitative and quantitative media measurement metrics. Organizations use the analysis to nurture their reputation, demonstrate the effectiveness of their communications strategies and achieve business objectives. The platform processes nearly a million articles, Web pages, blogs and message board posts per day. The charts are available at http://dowjonesinsight.blogspot.com/ and can be reproduced in print and online media. For further information about the Dow Jones Insight solutions visit http://www.dowjonesinsight.com/ and to learn more about The Dow Jones Insight-2008 Presidential Election Media Pulse, please contact Shannon Sullivan at +1 609 627 2312 or . ABOUT DOW JONES Dow Jones & Company (http://www.dowjones.com/) is a News Corporation company (NYSE: NWS, NWS.A; ASX: NWS, NWSLV; http://www.newscorp.com/). Dow Jones is a leading provider of global business news and information services. Its Consumer Media Group publishes The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, MarketWatch and the Far Eastern Economic Review. Its Enterprise Media Group includes Dow Jones Newswires, Dow Jones Factiva, Dow Jones Client Solutions, Dow Jones Indexes and Dow Jones Financial Information Services. Its Local Media Group operates community-based information franchises. 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