From the Washington Times :

Sen. John Kerry has … more praise from journalists than any other presidential candidate in the last quarter-century, according to a new analysis of almost 500 news stories released today by the Center for Media and Public Affairs.

”It’s not just that John Kerry has gotten better press than President Bush before this election, he’s gotten better press than anyone else since 1980. That’s significant,” said Bob Lichter, director of the D.C.-based nonpartisan research group.

“Kerry also got better press than anyone else in the days before the primaries as well,” Mr. Lichter added.

In October alone, Mr. Kerry had a “record-breaking 77 percent positive press evaluations,” compared with 34 percent positive for Mr. Bush, the study states.

Unprecedented, untrammeled accolades for Mr. Kerry were more than debate-related bounce, however. Since Labor Day, he also had a total of 58 percent positive stories, with just 36 percent for Mr. Bush.
[…]
In the 2000 election, Mr. Bush and challenger Al Gore got equally lousy press, with each receiving evaluations that were about 2-to-1 negative.

But Mr. Bush didn’t get the absolute worst press on record. With only 9 percent positive stories in 1984, President Reagan got the most negative treatment by news outlets on record, the study says.

Until this year, the record-holder for journalistic praise went to Walter Mondale, who accrued 56 percent positive press evaluations, also in 1984.