David Zurawik

The conventional wisdom holds that Sen Barack Obama, if elected, would be the first "cybergenic president," the first to understand the many ways in which the Internet and other new media are transforming politics and American life.

Despite concerns that downsizing has left the news media diminished in their ability to report big stories, news outlets have rarely been more ambitious than they are today covering one of the biggest in decades -- the race for the White House.

For decades, local TV stations were cash cows for the companies that owned them. Even though one or two stations with the most popular anchors often came to dominate each market, everybody made money. But not today.