After two years of obsessive co-dependency with Sarah Palin, Ross Douthat brilliantly announced that the "cross-hairs/blood-libel" was a turning point in the dysfunctional marriage between media and the governor-turned-lightning-rod. It was one of those low points in a relationship, Douthat suggests, that should make one pause and think "it's time to break up."
Dana Milbank, over at the Washington Post, has paused, admitted his compulsive obsession with Sarah Palin and vowed to go cold turkey for one month. He's pledged to make February Palin-free and asked his fellow co-dependents to do the same.
It's unlikely that the media's brief foray into self-reflection will amount to much; even if others do take up Milbank's call for a February purge, it may just result in a Palin binge in March to make up for lost time. But the spate of introspection - and Milbank's frankness - is a great reminder that journalists are people too.
Often when we think about the behavior of "the media" - or of any system - we think in terms of incentives and self-interest; for example, the media reports on sensational news because they know it sells, or the media avoids certain subjects for fear of losing advertisers. While there's tons of truth to the power of incentives (whether they play out blatantly or sub-consciously), it's also true that individuals in the media are as susceptible to irrational (and even non-self-serving) behavior as the rest of us.
As Milbank's honesty shows, it may be that journalists are serving us sensational news not just because they know we'll lap it up - but because they've been hooked too.
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