As the presidential election gets closer, we get more wrapped up in what the outcome will be, and what it will mean for our country.
A big step in the process occurred very late Friday night, when an official with Sen. Barack Obama's campaign, on condition of anonymity, revealed Obama had chosen Sen. Joe Biden as his vice presidential nominee.
The media attention that went on all day Friday could have wrapped any die-hard political fan up for hours, but the coverage was silly, and at times, downright outrageous.
On Friday afternoon, as the media anticipated Obama's announcement, news stations analyzed every potential candidate, and what his or her choice could mean for the party. They even had cameras trained on the homes of prospects, capturing prank pizza deliveries, comings and goings of family members, and the arrivals of landscapers.
No one was more extensive, and outrageous, in its coverage than CNN. "Situation Room" host Wolf Blitzer himself must have said a form of "Obama's message is imminent" at least a dozen times and hour during his show.
Silly.
The media hype generated by the Obama VP mystery was unlike anything we've seen before. It seemed to validate Republicans' claims that the major media are going out of their way to cover the Obama campaign.
Which raises the question: Will we see the same type and amount of coverage in the coming week as the Republicans' presumed nominee, Sen. John McCain, prepares to select his running mate. The speculation is that McCain will make his announcement Friday, a day after the Democratic National Convention concludes in Denver.
Will the networks breathlessly cover every aspect of McCain's options, and the whereabouts of the prospective candidates? Most seem to think it will be either Mitt Romney or Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
Don't bet on it.
The media, of course, will have some defense in that it has another major political story to cover this week - the Democrats' convention. Given the amount of time all of the networks will provide to what's going on in Denver - as they should - it would be impossible to give the same sort of coverage to McCain's VP selection.
Our suspicion is that it wouldn't matter. Throughout the campaign thus far, McCain has not been covered with nearly the same amount of hyperbole as Obama's. Of course, the media may not be doing a favor for Obama, whose celebrity status actually has worked to McCain's favor in campaign ads and, apparently, in the polls.
Nonetheless, Friday's coverage, and the days leading up to it, still should be considered an embarrassment in excess for the television news networks.
A big step in the process occurred very late Friday night, when an official with Sen. Barack Obama's campaign, on condition of anonymity, revealed Obama had chosen Sen. Joe Biden as his vice presidential nominee.
The media attention that went on all day Friday could have wrapped any die-hard political fan up for hours, but the coverage was silly, and at times, downright outrageous.
On Friday afternoon, as the media anticipated Obama's announcement, news stations analyzed every potential candidate, and what his or her choice could mean for the party. They even had cameras trained on the homes of prospects, capturing prank pizza deliveries, comings and goings of family members, and the arrivals of landscapers.
No one was more extensive, and outrageous, in its coverage than CNN. "Situation Room" host Wolf Blitzer himself must have said a form of "Obama's message is imminent" at least a dozen times and hour during his show.
Silly.
The media hype generated by the Obama VP mystery was unlike anything we've seen before. It seemed to validate Republicans' claims that the major media are going out of their way to cover the Obama campaign.
Which raises the question: Will we see the same type and amount of coverage in the coming week as the Republicans' presumed nominee, Sen. John McCain, prepares to select his running mate. The speculation is that McCain will make his announcement Friday, a day after the Democratic National Convention concludes in Denver.
Will the networks breathlessly cover every aspect of McCain's options, and the whereabouts of the prospective candidates? Most seem to think it will be either Mitt Romney or Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
Don't bet on it.
The media, of course, will have some defense in that it has another major political story to cover this week - the Democrats' convention. Given the amount of time all of the networks will provide to what's going on in Denver - as they should - it would be impossible to give the same sort of coverage to McCain's VP selection.
Our suspicion is that it wouldn't matter. Throughout the campaign thus far, McCain has not been covered with nearly the same amount of hyperbole as Obama's. Of course, the media may not be doing a favor for Obama, whose celebrity status actually has worked to McCain's favor in campaign ads and, apparently, in the polls.
Nonetheless, Friday's coverage, and the days leading up to it, still should be considered an embarrassment in excess for the television news networks.
