New York City ? By a wide margin, the news media concentrated on Democratic presidential contenders more than Republicans during the first three months of 2007, according to a study issued Thursday.

Campaign stories in newspapers, on television, online and on the radio focused on Democrats 61 percent of the time and on Republicans 24 percent, said the Project for Excellence in Journalism, which regularly monitors 48 outlets to gauge coverage trends.

But don’t look to political bias as the most obvious explanation. Three conservative radio talk show hosts – Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Michael Savage – talked about Democrats 75 percent of the time and Republicans 13 percent.