The New York Times’ Jim Rutenberg reports that when Barack Obama heads for Iraq and other locations overseas this summer, NBC’s Brian Williams is planning to catch up with him in person, as are the other two evening news anchors, Charles Gibson of ABC, and Katie Couric of CBS. And while the anchors are jockeying for interviews, they’ll be joined by star political reporters from the major newspapers and magazines who are flocking to catch Obama’s first overseas trip.

WaPo’s Howard Kurtz talks with, NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik who says Obama has “proven adept at generating excitement.” Folkenflik thinks the anchors are hoping “a little bit of that excitement will rub off on their newscasts if they can convey an American phenomenon abroad, if that’s what it turns out to be. Senator McCain is not as magnetic a figure in that way.”

> More:Newsbusters‘ Noel Sheppard writes, “This goes in stark contrast to what happened when John McCain visited Iraq last March.”

> More: From HuffPo‘s Rachel Sklar: “The fact is, Obama’s trip is much bigger news than McCain’s was.”