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The increasingly crowded 2008 presidential field and the intensifying political battle over Iraq competed with President Bush’s State of the Union Address for media attention last week. But the PEJ index of the news also reveals that a series of smoldering global hotspots are now attracting more coverage.

Two Washington-centric topics that left plenty of room for disagreement and debate dominated the cable and radio talk shows last week. But a PEJ examination of the talk landscape reveals that in some cases, the hosts’ own values and preferences determine what news is fit to argue about.

The deteriorating conflict in Iraq was still the leading story line in the news last week. But the media were also tested by a terror false alarm, a major campaign trail gaffe, lethal weather, and the tragic death of a great athlete, according to the PEJ News Coverage Index.

For much of 2007, the conflict in Iraq has dominated news coverage. Last week, a scenario that had largely been confined to a few cable hosts—the role of Iran and the possibility of war there—made its way onto the media agenda.

The battle in Iraq is still dominating the nation’s news coverage, but in different ways than it used to. While media attention on the political debate over troop strength has waned, a high-profile criminal trial and a riveting newspaper investigation have focused attention on different aspects of the controversial war.

The nation’s radio and cable talk shows can’t resist talking about the blockbuster hot button issues like Iraq and the presidential campaign. But on subjects ranging from global warming and tensions with Iran to the Scooter Libby trial and the death of Molly Ivins, the talk conversation is very much shaped by the hosts’ own agendas.

A sparring match between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama helped make the 2008 campaign the biggest story in the news last week. And a strange judge kept the Anna Nicole Smith case in the headlines. But it was a Washington Post investigation that created the biggest waves.

There was plenty of conversation about Rudy Giuliani and Scooter Libby on the radio and cable talk shows last week. And the debate over Iraq continued to be the biggest topic. But the mysterious death of a blonde bombshell pushed everything else to the sidelines, as the talkers took up time wondering about her appeal.

Presidential politics and Iraq managed to attract their fair share of coverage last week. But an allegedly homicidal astronaut and a troubled pinup girl really commandeered the media’s attention. The coverage of the death of Anna Nicole Smith was cast as sociology but it had the intensity of voyeurism.