One of the many ways that the mainstream media fails is its focus only on a narrow aspect of one story at a time.  For example, the elections in 2008 have been reported as if the whole story were the Hillary/Obama horserace.   

Another interesting story is Al Franken's US Senate campaign.  I am surprised that this story did not draw more attention, as it has some of the chum to which the media seems drawn, such as celebrities and celebrities making rude, catty remarks about one another.

The Atlantic has done a nice piece on the Franken campaign and supplemented it with video at its site.