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

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

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.

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

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

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

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