Given what the media have put the country through this past decade, it must come as a surprise to most Americans that the press has a code of ethics.

No matter what name we give it or how we judge it, a candidate's character is central to political reporting because it is central to a citizen's decision in voting.

The ethics of editorial judgement, however, began to go though a sea change during the late 1970s and 80s when the Carter and Reagan Administrations de-regulated the television industry.

The networks found themselves having to compete for an increasingly Balkanized audience.

The written tone and the spoken tone change and the reporters' disbelief in the veracity of the government spreads to the readers and the viewers.

In exchange for power, influence, command and a place in history, a president gives up the bulk of his privacy.

As electronic journalism came to be evaluated for its cost effectiveness, the network world began breaking up.