Turmoil in the U.S. financial markets was by far the biggest driver of the candidates' media coverage in the past week, according to results from the Dow Jones Insight—2008 Presidential Election Media Pulse. Terms associated with the economic crisis dominated the list of words and phrases newly identified by Dow Jones Insight in connection with coverage of the overall election and the recent presidential debate.

In mainstream media sources (press and Web) during the period September 22-29, the ...