Saw it in the Sunday papers

By Libby

Elizabeth Edwards tells us what we already know about our dysfunctional establishment media, but does it so eloquently, it's definitely worth a read in full. She thinks the solution is for us to calmly demand better news coverage but as many have pointed out already, the problem is that most voters aren't really that interested in the wonkery. The reason the news went all tabloid is ratings and most people just don't want to hear the eye glazing dry details. They pretty much want soundbites along the lines of tell me what you're going to do in one sentence and how much is it going to cost me?

That wasn't always true. Before cable TV, the public would watch a substantive debate. I blame the invention of the remote control myself. I mean really, how many people actually watch a whole program all the way through without clicking around the dial? And on those rare times when the battery dies in the clicker and you don't have a spare, how often do you get up to physically switch the stations? I'm not sure there's a cure for it. Certainly not an easy one. It reminds me of this Paul Simon song.

Meanwhile, my review of Obama's Fox interview, my advice to Obama and my thoughts on the danger of negative politics, among other new posts are up at Newshoggers right now.