The Globe and Mail's John Ibbitson draws the following links between the Obama/Wright controversy and coverage of Sarah Palin's various personal and professional pecadilloes:

The media frenzy surrounding Ms. Palin has been extreme, though no more than that which accompanied the imbroglio over Mr. Obama's association with his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright.

It is the product of a disturbing shift in how the media cover presidential elections. The proliferation of bloggers, Web-based journals and online videos drives the agenda. They broke the Wright affair, the controversy over Mr. Obama's "bitter voters" remarks, and churned the rumours over the pregnancy of Ms. Palin's unwed teenage daughter.

These revelations, invariably accompanied by accusations, commentary and false rumours, are picked up by the cable news networks, and then repeated in newspapers "now that it's out there."

The overall calibre of commentary declines, for which all of us in this craft are responsible.