But the time has come for journalists to acknowledge that a zone of privacy does exist.

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

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.

The relationship between press and politician - protected by the Constitution and designed to be happily adversarial - becomes sour, raw and confrontational.

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.

Journalists, who are skeptical to begin with, simply do not like to be lied to or made fools of.

For decades, the journalistic norm had been that the private lives of public officials remained private unless that life impinged on public performance.