Sen. Barack Obama's rock star world tour last month prompted a flood of news media self-examination of presidential campaign coverage, sparked at least in part by complaints from Republicans that Sen. John McCain was being ignored.

By a wide margin, the top story the week of July 21-27 was Obama's trip to the Mideast and Europe; coming in at No. 3 was coverage of campaign coverage itself. But maybe the GOP's complaints made a more lasting impact. Last week, for the first time since the general election campaign began in early June, McCain attracted virtually the same amount of news coverage as Obama, according to the July 28-Aug. 3 Campaign Coverage Index. The index is a fascinating weekly analysis of news media coverage compiled by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

Obama was a significant or dominant factor in 81 percent of campaign stories, compared with 78 percent for McCain. The Republican candidate's previous top showing was 62 percent, and until last week the spread between the two candidates had never been within 10 percentage points.

Does this mean the news media was in love with Obama before July 28? Does it mean it fell out of love last week? You can be the judge of that. To learn more about the Campaign Coverage Index, go to www.journalism.org.

Among other things, you'll learn that the top story last week wasn't energy policy, the war or the economy, but the race card skirmish. The economy did come in at No. 3, though, so maybe there is hope for a more issues-based campaign before all is said and done.

Good news on transit For the thousands of metro dwellers who regularly use mass transit -- and the thousands more who might, or should -- Monday was a good day.

The threat of a disruptive transit workers strike on the eve of the Republican National Convention lifted, as the Amalgamated Transit Union 1005 ratified a new contract. It assures riders of two more years of service uninterrupted by labor strife.

Also on Monday, plans were unveiled for additional bus lanes on Marquette and 2nd Avenues in downtown Minneapolis. That change and a host of related upgrades, part of the federally funded Urban Partnership Agreement, should shave time off transit commutes in and out of downtown beginning late next year, and clear the way for hybrid electric buses on Nicollet Mall.

Metro Transit ridership is up a healthy 8 percent this year. The upgrades ought to do almost as much as the price of gas to keep it growing.

Leno on McCain ad "Have you seen the new commercial? The McCain campaign compares Barack Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. And today the Obama campaign released an ad comparing John McCain to Zsa Zsa Gabor and Bea Arthur."