Media don't give it to us straight

National media practices and the conduct of journalists are in the limelight again. Example: A new study by the non-profit Center for Media and Public Affairs shows that the campaign news reports of the three major networks on the GOP primary season from January 1 to March 4 devoted more than five times more airtime to the comments of celebrity journalists than they did to the comments of the candidates themselves. The old adage -- that the most dangerous place in the world is between a politician and a TV camera -- may have to be revised.

This study also showed that the average candidate sound bite was only seven seconds -- compared with an average sound bite of 42 seconds in 1968, nine seconds in 1988 and eight seconds in 1992.

When the mavens of the electronic media do cover the candidates, studies show they spend more than half the time on the "horse race" aspect of the campaign