I had the local news tuned in when the Today Show came on this morning. I was curious about how the Today Show, which is, for better or worse, sort of the "consummate" American show of it's genre, and it delivers the top headlines to a lot of Americans.

So what was the top headline? Was it "healthcare?" It should have been considering about 90% or more of the press conference was on that subject. But NOOOOOOOOOOOO!, as John Belushi would say. They focused on Obama saying that the Cambridge policeman that arrested Professor Gates had acted "stupidly." It's the typical sensationalism that defines shows like the Today Show and commentators like Matt Lauer.

I thought that might happen and was why I made the comments I did in my previous column. I figure that Obama and his people knew exactly what would happen if he made such comments, so he must have wanted to make news on this front and felt that he had the time to squeeze it in. He also admitted up front that Gates was a "friend" of his and that he was biased.

The Fox News TV network has posted a story picked up by Google news http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/07/23/police-officer-obama-butt-arr...
quoting the policeman as basically saying that Obama should stay out of it, and that it was a "local" issue. While that may rally the anti-Obama crowd, it's dangerous to try and take on a popular president. Obama has a way of disarming his "enemies." I can just see it - a visit to the White House with a discussion of the issues - a press conference - media saturation - it's perfect for the Obama team. This policeman is about to become political fodder. And for that, he is stupid.

But the big time media is stupid too for letting the sensationalism be the top story. Should it be covered - yes, of course - it's an important story. But should it have been the top story on Today? Not at all. Especially when Williams, Gregory, and Todd did not elevate the story immediately after the press conference last night. To me, that shows a deliberate effort to elevate the issue by brass at NBC overnight.