Reply #6: I think that reporting on many politicians with integrity

[MBS]

has suffered just because of this juvenile s____. In addition to Obama, press coverage of many worthy politicians (Kerry comes to mind, but there are also many others) has also suffered, for similar reasons. Conversely, many other lesser politicians have gotten excessively favorable coverage because they schmoozed with the press (McCain, at least in his former persona) or because they made things easy for them (Reagan, because he never deviated from his script, so reporters didn't have to listen) or because of their perceived entertainment/headline value (Palin,Bachman, and other denizens of the far right)
I try to remember that there are good journalists out there, but the White House press corps, in particular, has too many members who are lazy, insecure and/or too influenced by what they perceive to be the power-center, and/or conventional wisdom.
Someone on DU said a few weeks ago that nothing will change politically in this country until the media start doing their job. I agree (though I'd add that it's also high time that our fellow citizens start doing their job, too -- starting by demanding higher standards of the media, and by casting informed votes in elections)