With 70 million viewers, it’s not surprising that last Thursday’s vice presidential debate was the week’s top campaign storyline, with the financial crisis coming in second. And because of the VP narrative, Palin came out on top in coverage, according to this week’s study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

"The various events connected to the debate accounted for more than half (52%) of last week’s election coverage, according to PEJ’s Campaign Coverage Index. The biggest storyline was the debate itself, at 45% of the newshole. Other related themes included Katie Couric’s much-discussed interview with Palin, (5%), which helped establish the stakes and expectations for the debate. A flap over whether debate moderator Gwen Ifill might harbor a bias toward Barack Obama accounted for another 2%."