OBAMARAMA

A great piece up today at Media Matters for America looks at journalists’ obsession with touting trivial non-stories about Sen. Obama — from his uncontroversial driveway purchase to his investment non-scandal — and promoting them as significant simply because they “raise questions.”

It’s a pretty low bar to set for news, especially since these “questions” usually come from unnamed “political strategists” (some of whom are later revealed to be “political operatives” who actually work for Sen. Obama’s “opponents”).

The latest non-story involves a photograph of Sen. Obama talking with his communications guru David Axelrod in his Senate office — a situation that manages to “raise questions,” according to Roll Call, despite the fact that it violates exactly no ethics rules. As the inimitable SSM makes clear:

The Roll Call column is just the most recent example of an emerging trend in the media’s treatment of Obama. In the past six months, there have been several news reports that have purported to expose wrongdoing on Obama’s part, but, at the same time, noted that there exists no allegation or evidence that Obama acted improperly. Nevertheless, these reports claim that Obama’s actions “raise questions” or “raise flags” — presumably as justification for publishing a piece that contains no real evidence of impropriety.

Never let the facts get in the way of a good story, that’s what I always say.