Playing Right Along?

Two of the most provocative media pieces to come out this month both relate broadly to the theme of journalists craving news to break and politicians going out of their way to pass it along to audiences themselves.

David Carr's NY Times story focuses on Barack Obama's press strategy of speaking directly to Democratic voters through text messages and notes on the campaign Web site, rather than through leaks to the media. Saturday's 3 a.m. text about Joe Biden as VP is just the latest example.

From many accounts, despite the Obama camp's up-front announcement that it would alert folks through texting, reporters still were in a frenzy to break the news themselves. This included frantically calling campaign sources to get a revised "short list," and checking cell phones every five minutes for updates.

There's nothing wrong, of course, with some good-old-fashioned hustle, but why all the effort on this story? Picture Obama standing on a desk, tossing a paper airplane to John Q Public with the words "Biden's My Man" written on the wings. Then tilt down to see a swarm of wee reporters jumping as high as they can to grab the darn thing out of the air... na na na na na, you can't get it!

The press is getting played, and for what? So that a news organization can claim that it saw the text first at 2:45 a.m. and post the news on its Web site -- which who, exactly is reading at that hour? -- five minutes before a competitor has it up. The stories about speculation make for good office fodder, sure. But what's the value to readers/listeners?

Slate columnist Jack Shafer points out the absurdity of the great veepstakes information chase. "If Obama is guilty of gaming the press to sustain interest in his campaign, his partner in crime is John McCain, who as early as May 21 was auditioning potential vice presidents and continues the tease this week," he writes.

It's best to view this episode as a teachable moment. Instead of getting caught up in the fracas, why not report on the story for what it is -- a game of information keep-away. Do as Carr and Shafer did and write about the implications of politicians speaking directly to their constituents, and what role the media has in setting the agenda.

That way, readers can only complain about getting woken up by an early morning message -- and not about the press latching onto any speculation about a horse race that isn't even the main event.