The Toronto Star's Susan Delacourt on the realities of political journalism on Parliament Hill these days. She got into it by using the anecdote of a soccer game between MPs and parliamentary reporters.

From the June 23 Toronto Star:

Volumes have been written about how TV changed politics, making it more about appearance and the pursuit of the 10-second sound bite.

But television has also made possible live, cross-country coverage of significant political events and panel shows featuring elected representatives and intelligent analysis.

So it seems a bit much to pin all the blame on TV for the decline in democracy in political discourse.

What's more significant, in terms of the media's ability to cover Parliament, is the reality of reduced resources and multiple deadlines.

Over the past 10 years, many news bureaus in Ottawa have shut down, while remaining organizations have cut the size of their offices.

In the meantime, the Internet and all-news cable have ushered in an age of multiple deadlines, every day. The pace of political news is compressed into hours, even minutes.

Shrinking media budgets and declining public interest mean that there's also less room for political stories. Still, competition is fierce. No one wants to miss a story, so everyone watches what the others are doing. There are few rewards for breaking away from the pack.

It's a perfect collision of conditions to get everyone chasing one tiny ball, instead of fanning out over the democratic field.