Better than Lipstick on a Pig

[Commentary] If you feel that pigs with lipstick and Paris Hilton have hijacked our political discourse this election season, you're not alone. Mainstream news shows have devoted too much attention to trivia, and too little to information that voters say matter most. This Friday's presidential debate with Jim Lehrer of PBS moderating may be a chance to get the media back on track. But if past is prologue, we can expect another parade of the petty. Media Matters analyzed the 2,304 questions asked during the 31 primary debates. Of these, only 9 percent of the questions addressed the economy, counted by Americans as the most important issue today -- followed by the war, healthcare, energy policy and jobs. Meanwhile, debate moderators piled on the fluff, asking questions about personality and other "non-substantive" matters more than 30 percent of the time. Before Americans close the curtains on this election, we deserve real political discourse from our media. If the news organizations aren't up to the task, it's up to us to hold our media -- and through them, our leaders -- accountable.