The News Is The News (For Once)

Around the office, we often lament about what gets passed off as news by the 24-hour networks. Fox has its obvious array of problems, and the recent re-imagining of the national obsession with Paris Hilton didn't help anything. A recent discussion on what is an essentially American habit of worrying about the wrong stuff had us pondering why people get angry at Paris Hilton for all the coverage of Paris Hilton. We are, as George argued then, blaming the wrong people.

This is true. It does not follow that what we are presented with as "news" should raise our ire, and yet those that present us with it escape blame or even cursory consideration. So I have been very surprised by the coverage of Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby's prison sentence. The event was not a surprise — if there was surprise there, it sprang from the fact that the Rescue of Scooter took so long — but the coverage has been quite astute and pretty even-handed.

For instance, I am interested to know, even these many days later, that journalists are discussing the finer points of the event. This AP article discusses how, because he won't have served any jail time, Libby can't actually go on probation with supervised release, which is the part of Libby's non-financial punishment remaining post-commutation. It may turn out that he doesn't actually have to serve any supervised release time and only be required to report to probation officers.

Joel Seidman reporting for NBC examines what the fallout from the CIA leak investigation — what the Libby case was truly about — has been. Surprise, the only person to go to jail so far in the case of a gross violation of national security was a journalist! I'm not sure how that happens, but the press is still discussing it, at least.

Even some reporting infused with opinion or prognostication is good, although I'm sure right-wingers who aren't crazy about Seymour Hirsh would disagree with me. In a Newsweek column, Hirsh points out that the Libby commutation shouldn't be surprising to anyone, and he also forecasts that this is not a move that will damage the Republican Party in the upcoming election.

My personal feeling is that letting Scooter end up in jail would have been more potentially damaging to the GOP. Faced with being abandoned after digging in like a good soldier, it is not unimaginable that Libby might have talked, unraveling the complex web of protection the administration has spun.

I think the best, highest product of reporting on Libby's commutation has come from Keith Olberman, who has consitently staked a legitimate claim to the legacy of Edward R. Murrow. I know, I know. It may not be objective; Olberman's special comments are value-laden, but that's what they're for. If you haven't seen his special comment calling for Bush and Cheney to resign, you should.

This is just a sampling, and not exhaustive. The reporting on the commutation has been pretty good, and I'm glad to see it. Those who decide what is presented to us as news are actually doing a fair job of it lately. Now if we can just keep celebrities from doing anything for about six months, we'll have an informed electorate.