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Campaign 2012 in the Media

Use the tabs below to explore the tone and volume of news coverage and Twitter conversations about each candidate or read the story behind the numbers.

Apr 30, 2012 - May 6, 2012

Percentage of coverage
Gingrich  6%
Paul  1
Romney  38
Obama *  76

Apr 23, 2012 - Apr 29, 2012

Percentage of coverage
Gingrich  8%
Paul  1
Romney  62
Obama *  12

Apr 16, 2012 - Apr 22, 2012

Percentage of coverage
Gingrich  1%
Paul  0
Romney  67
Obama *  13

Apr 9, 2012 - Apr 15, 2012

Percentage of coverage
Gingrich  8%
Paul  1
Romney  50
Santorum  29
Obama *  9

Apr 2, 2012 - Apr 8, 2012

Percentage of coverage
Gingrich  0%
Paul  1
Romney  65
Santorum  33
Obama *  17

Mar 26, 2012 - Apr 1, 2012

Percentage of coverage
Gingrich  23%
Paul  0
Romney  63
Santorum  20
Obama *  7

Mar 19, 2012 - Mar 25, 2012

Percentage of coverage
Gingrich  14%
Paul  3
Romney  72
Santorum  50
Obama *  11

Mar 12, 2012 - Mar 18, 2012

Percentage of coverage
Gingrich  34%
Paul  2
Romney  51
Santorum  41
Obama *  13

Mar 5, 2012 - Mar 11, 2012

Percentage of coverage
Gingrich  36%
Paul  6
Romney  63
Santorum  43
Obama *  14

Feb 27, 2012 - Mar 4, 2012

Percentage of coverage
Gingrich  26%
Paul  0
Romney  67
Santorum  59
Obama *  8

Feb 20, 2012 - Feb 26, 2012

Percentage of coverage
Gingrich  15%
Paul  6
Romney  45
Santorum  56
Obama *  12

Feb 13, 2012 - Feb 19, 2012

Percentage of coverage
Gingrich  13%
Paul  3
Romney  55
Santorum  50
Obama *  10

Feb 6, 2012 - Feb 12, 2012

Percentage of coverage
Gingrich  27%
Paul  4
Romney  56
Santorum  46
Obama *  12

Jan 30, 2012 - Feb 5, 2012

Percentage of coverage
Gingrich  48%
Paul  5
Romney  66
Santorum  6
Obama *  9

Jan 23, 2012 - Jan 29, 2012

Percentage of coverage
Gingrich  64%
Paul  4
Romney  63
Santorum  6
Obama *  16

Jan 16, 2012 - Jan 22, 2012

Percentage of coverage
Gingrich  57%
Huntsman  6
Paul  3
Perry  10
Romney  53
Santorum  20
Obama *  7

Jan 9, 2012 - Jan 15, 2012

Percentage of coverage
Gingrich  25%
Huntsman  13
Paul  14
Perry  6
Romney  69
Santorum  8
Obama *  8

Jan 2, 2012 - Jan 8, 2012

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  6%
Gingrich  18
Huntsman  6
Paul  19
Perry  10
Romney  50
Santorum  41
Obama *  8

Dec 26, 2011 - Jan 1, 2012

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  2%
Gingrich  44
Huntsman  1
Paul  34
Perry  6
Romney  41
Santorum  8
Obama *  3

Dec 19, 2011 - Dec 25, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  8%
Gingrich  46
Huntsman  0
Paul  25
Perry  11
Romney  45
Santorum  3
Obama *  10

Dec 12, 2011 - Dec 18, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  7%
Gingrich  61
Huntsman  1
Paul  9
Perry  5
Romney  44
Santorum  1
Obama *  8

Dec 5, 2011 - Dec 11, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  1%
Gingrich  55
Huntsman  0
Paul  5
Perry  7
Romney  44
Santorum  0
Obama *  10

Nov 28, 2011 - Dec 4, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  2%
Gingrich  39
Huntsman  1
Paul  1
Perry  3
Romney  31
Santorum  0
Obama *  6

Nov 21, 2011 - Nov 27, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  16%
Cain  4
Gingrich  44
Huntsman  5
Paul  3
Perry  6
Romney  38
Santorum  1
Obama *  9

Nov 14, 2011 - Nov 20, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  6%
Cain  36
Gingrich  37
Huntsman  1
Paul  5
Perry  8
Romney  24
Santorum  1
Obama *  8

Nov 7, 2011 - Nov 13, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  3%
Cain  61
Gingrich  15
Huntsman  0
Paul  0
Perry  21
Romney  9
Santorum  0
Obama *  5

Oct 31, 2011 - Nov 6, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  1%
Cain  77
Gingrich  3
Huntsman  0
Paul  0
Perry  11
Romney  14
Santorum  0
Obama *  6

Oct 24, 2011 - Oct 30, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  7%
Cain  39
Gingrich  2
Huntsman  0
Paul  3
Perry  44
Romney  33
Santorum  1
Obama *  9

Oct 17, 2011 - Oct 23, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  7%
Cain  44
Gingrich  2
Huntsman  2
Paul  4
Perry  35
Romney  42
Santorum  2
Obama *  12

Oct 10, 2011 - Oct 16, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  6%
Cain  38
Gingrich  4
Huntsman  2
Paul  1
Perry  33
Romney  42
Santorum  1
Obama *  10

Oct 3, 2011 - Oct 9, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  2%
Cain  24
Gingrich  0
Huntsman  1
Paul  1
Perry  35
Romney  30
Santorum  0
Obama *  10

Sep 26, 2011 - Oct 2, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  8%
Cain  25
Gingrich  2
Huntsman  0
Paul  0
Perry  26
Romney  15
Santorum  4
Obama *  8

Sep 19, 2011 - Sep 25, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  15%
Cain  1
Gingrich  0
Huntsman  3
Paul  0
Perry  61
Romney  42
Santorum  5
Obama *  19

Sep 12, 2011 - Sep 18, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  26%
Cain  0
Gingrich  1
Huntsman  2
Paul  4
Perry  61
Romney  28
Santorum  2
Obama *  13

Sep 5, 2011 - Sep 11, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  19%
Cain  2
Gingrich  5
Huntsman  3
Paul  8
Perry  60
Romney  44
Santorum  3
Obama *  17

Aug 29, 2011 - Sep 4, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  23%
Cain  0
Gingrich  0
Huntsman  5
Paul  1
Perry  41
Romney  23
Santorum  0
Obama *  11

Aug 22, 2011 - Aug 28, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  2%
Cain  5
Gingrich  2
Huntsman  7
Paul  5
Perry  47
Romney  28
Santorum  2
Obama *  5

Aug 15, 2011 - Aug 21, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  15%
Cain  0
Gingrich  0
Huntsman  0
Paul  1
Perry  73
Romney  7
Santorum  0
Obama *  16

Aug 8, 2011 - Aug 14, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  35%
Cain  4
Gingrich  4
Huntsman  6
Paul  2
Perry  21
Romney  28
Santorum  4
Obama *  9

Aug 1, 2011 - Aug 7, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  19%
Cain  0
Gingrich  0
Huntsman  7
Paul  0
Perry  7
Romney  30
Santorum  0
Obama *  9

Jul 25, 2011 - Jul 31, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  35%
Cain  5
Gingrich  0
Huntsman  11
Paul  17
Perry  5
Romney  23
Santorum  0
Obama *  8

Jul 18, 2011 - Jul 24, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  36%
Cain  3
Gingrich  0
Huntsman  0
Paul  3
Perry  15
Romney  27
Santorum  0
Obama *  11

Jul 11, 2011 - Jul 17, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  52%
Cain  0
Gingrich  0
Huntsman  0
Paul  2
Perry  2
Romney  12
Santorum  2
Obama *  15

Jul 4, 2011 - Jul 10, 2011

Percentage of coverage
Bachmann  28%
Cain  8
Gingrich  12
Huntsman  16
Paul  4
Perry  4
Romney  60
Santorum  0
Obama *  10

Trend Over Time

Click and drag over an area of the line graph to zoom in.

*The method PEJ is using to track volume numbers changed on April 30. Prior to Barack Obama officially declaring the start of his campaign, Obama's volume data were tracked differently from the GOP candidates. His percentage had represented all news stories in which he is a presence in at least 25% of the story. The other candidates were represented by the presence in campaign stories only. But as of April 30, all remaining candidates' volume will be following the same methodology. Candidates' volume represents the percentage of campaign stories in which the candidate is presence in at least 25% of the story.

Data for weeks December 19 - 25, 2011 and December 26, 2011 - January 1, 2012 are estimates. The data has yet to be finalized.

Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism