Is the press doing its job? Case study 2:

More on the question of whether journalists are upstaging the candidates they cover: Matthew Ygelsias makes his case against Tim Russert:

Viewers watch a candidate getting grilled by Russert not to assess the candidate’s views but to assess his or her ability to withstand the grilling. And, when this sort of toughness and sparring becomes its own reward, the vacuity of the questioning is almost guaranteed.