Blurring of journalism lines in Palin story hurts public

[Commentary] Although real questions have been raised about Palin, such as whether she meddled in the discipline of a state trooper once married to her sister, Us magazine already has satisfied itself that these are full-blown "scandals." And the magazine assures us the troubles are spreading "as fast as flies at a Labor Day picnic." It might be no surprise to regular readers that Us isn't taking the high road here. But one has to wonder whether the extra punch isn't somehow linked to the magazine's overlord, confirmed Barack Obama worshiper Jann Wenner. We heard it for the second day running Wednesday. The Republicans devoted much of their energy to knocking down the mythical, monolithic "media." A group of Republican women led by Carly Fiorina faced down a room full of reporters at the convention center here and demanded that the Palin "smears" stop. Former Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift, in particular, railed about the unfairness of it all. I thought maybe I had missed something, so I followed Swift into the hallway. I asked her to name the legitimate news outlet that had smeared McCain's running mate. Swift looked crestfallen.