Networks Sleep While Democracy Burns

[Commentary] Sometimes mainstream media reveal their failures in displays so stark that it makes the job of media critics too easy. NBC, ABC and CBS frequently forget to serve their viewers, to be sure, but certain miscues are a special boon to bloggers and media reformers, who work tirelessly to show that the titans of the mainstream consistently miss the most important stories of our time. Network coverage of the political conventions this week and next is a case in point, as American politics takes a back seat to mainstream media reality. The "Big Three" have decided that democracy is bad for business, and are treating viewers to excited hormones (ABC's "High School Musical"), miniskirts (NBC's "Deal or No Deal") and bachelor hi-jinks (CBS's "Two and a Half Men") instead of Democratic and Republican convention coverage in Denver and Minneapolis.