I think this is about the traditional media losing power, and it scares them. This isn't about Obama getting a prearranged softball question -- the Pitney question was the toughest one he faced (and one that he danced around in his answer to and was extremely evasive). If the WaPo or AP had had the foresight to set up an Iran bureau that covered the issue as extensively as Nico did, and then were chosen to ask a question from an average Iranian citizen,there wouldn't be anywhere near the outrage. They are offended at someone invading "their" space, and frankly they are scared, as well they should be. Their medium is dying. The political media in this country act much like major sports media does in covering their respective sports. They may do an effective job of criticizing the other team, or even their own. They do not criticize the system. They don't go out of their way to penetrate and reveal the problems at the core of their sport. Why? Because they don't want to upset the applecart. All they want is a free buffet and they will carry the league's water eternally. Free tickets to the Superbowl, Final Four, or WH dinners are worth it to them. They are also terrified of what effect the internet will have on their livelihood. What value does a sports columnist have when everyone is a sports columnist? Just look at Richard Justice's snide dismissal of blogging for exhibit 1(A). or Buzz Bissinger, who wrote one of my favorite books (Friday Night Lights), but lost it over sports bloggers a while back on HBO. Helen Thomas is just protecting her paycheck.
Very interesting take. While I disagree about Helen (she's been this way forever), you certainly have a point about the traditional media. They are just freaking out at how things are evolving, and for good reason. Most of them haven't figured out how to make a decent return from the internet, and the cost of their overseas bureaus has become almost unsupportable. When all the internet news sources lose access to the news generated by traditional media, so they can spit it back out for us, we'll see how that works out. Getting news via Facebook and Twitter is groovy and all, but where's the substitute for good, hard, professional journalism on the ground? Guess we'll see.
