Pew's Project for Excellence in Journalism released a study of the most news covered candidates. And the result is that everyone in the media is now covering a study of what they already covered. Pretty meta.
Seriously though, Christine O'Donnell has the most media coverage by a long shot. Nobody knew her name two months ago. How did she do that? The Delaware Tea Party Senate candidate -- who has given very limited national media access -- was the lead figure in 160 news stories over the past 11 months, despite only seriously making national headlines since early September.
"The amount of coverage she's gotten in a short amount of time is dramatic," said PEJ Associate Director Mark Jurkowitz.
Of course, Surge Desk has been guilty of paying frequent heed to her dynamic presence as well. What explains such heavy attention for a candidate that is unlikely to win their race?
"The amount of coverage shows that the media will focus on a candidate who -- despite little chance of winning -- makes headlines with provocative statements and actions out of character with most mainstream politicians," wrote Yahoo News' Michael Calderone.
The research surveyed 52 news sources from January 1 to October 31, ranging from broadcast networks, cable news networks, online outlets, newspapers and talk radio programs. A public figured must be featured in at least 50 percent of the story to be considered the lead newsmaker.
Here are the top 10 newsmakers from the Pew study:
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