A Naked Moment: Surprise! Press makes news, not merely reports it

The press has long been criticized for being not-so-passive when it comes to news content, but today, in response to Bush's press conference yesterday, one headline and accompanying first paragraph at the WaPost reads,

A Punchy President Meets the Press

President Bush had a senior moment midway through his news conference yesterday. Referring to an earlier question from the Los Angeles Times' Jim Gerstenzang, who has covered much of Bush's presidency, Bush looked at the veteran correspondent - and forgot his name.

Yeah, that is really news. How dare the President, whose contract-for-hire falls far short of the half-life of a disgruntled reporter, give such short shrift to one of our honored members of the press.

How dare he!

Oops. Excuse me. It was a column, not a news report.

Silly me.