E&P: Big Dog got more coverage than any Republican running for President.

Former President Bill Clinton received more press attention in last week’s election coverage than any Republican candidate for the White House and Democrat John Edwards. Barack Obama, with his big South Carolina primary win, was the media exposure winner, registering as a significant or dominant newsmaker in 41% of the campaign stories. Hillary Clinton was right behind at 40%. And her husband was next at 18%, according to an analysis of campaign coverage by the Project for Excellence in Journalism from January 21 through 27.

Fully 56% of the stories focused on Democrats; nearly twice as many as on Republicans (30%). Part of this decline could be attributed to the drop in coverage for Republicans Mike Huckabee (6%) and Mitt Romney (12%). As the Florida primary approached, Rudolph Giuliani, who had lagged badly in media attention, more than tripled his output from the previous week, jumping up to 14%.

The Project for Excellence in Journalism’s “Campaign Coverage Index”—which will appear weekly until nominees are selected in each party—also finds:

--Campaign coverage filled 39% of the newshole studied last week, exactly the same amount as the week before.

--Despite coming in a close second in South Carolina a week earlier, Mike Huckabee almost disappeared from the coverage (6%), barely ahead of Fred Thompson (5%), who dropped out.

--Mitt Romney, tied in most Florida polls, saw his coverage plummet last week to half what it was a week earlier (from being significantly featured or dominant in 25% of stories to 12%).

-- And Rudolph Giuliani was back last week, his coverage more than tripling from the week before, though much of that coverage was dismissing his chances and predicting the possible demise of his candidacy.