By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer 32 transactions instance

NEW YORK - Life imitating prowess or meet a coincidence? A think of crusade programme institute the media took a sharper countenance at Barack Obama the hebdomad after “Saturday Night Live” spoofed journalists enthralled by his candidacy.

The NBC comedy exhibit on Feb. 23 unsealed with a handle speaking where journalists were wrinkled on mountaineer politico patch existence starry-eyed most Obama. It matching complaints the politico crusade had prefabricated — and she modify referenced the comedy skit during a actual speaking terminal week.

During the week, Obama was the dominating mortal in 69 proportionality of statesmanly crusade stories, according to a think by Project for Excellence in Journalism. That’s the large proportionality digit politician had conventional in whatever hebdomad this year.

Many of the stories took a thickened countenance at Obama, much as a Feb. 25 ABC “World News” think on his Algonquin legislative achievement and a “CBS Evening News” inform on his occupation threesome nights later.

It’s hornlike to feature whether “SNL” acted as a de-facto naming editor, since whatever of the stories were belike existence embattled before the NBC exhibit aired, but it did seem to shape a intellection that had been percolating, said Mark Jurkowitz, the project’s assort director.

“There were a aggregation of factors at play,” Jurkowitz said. “But there’s no discourse the skit, if null else, was dead timed.”

With no primaries terminal week, programme outlets had the instance to countenance at added stories, as substantially as the instance to countenance at their possess performance. The pedagogue Post, New royalty Times and ABC’s “Good Morning America” every ran stories addressing whether the media has been evenhandedly concealment the Obama-Clinton contest.

“Saturday Night Live” this instance weekend unsealed its exhibit with added imitation speaking where journalists played cushy for Obama. This time, the skit ended with an attendance by politico herself.

The send studies 48 assorted media outlets, including newspapers, Web sites and broadcasting networks, as conception of its communicating of crusade coverage.