Politico has naturally veered right in the past weeks to months since the election.  "Naturally" because the whole point of the site is to reinforce the on-going political "argument" in D.C.   Going after the existing power base helps to stoke the "argument," but too often, the wrong arguments is had.  Competition of ideas is desireable, but focusing on trivialities in politics at a moment like the current financial crisis is a bit like covering a spat between Paris Hilton and one her new BFFs.   It's entertaining, but it does not provide any reliable actionable information.

Ben Smith is in a rush to cover the Geithner "gaffe."  So, was the Drudge Report.  Politico.com had three different posts off the same link within 90 minutes.   CNBC and others clarified the "misquote."  Geithner was referring to the IMF drawing facility and was actually attempting to be diplomatic to his Chinese counterparts who had suggested using the IMF as a mechanism to promote a new reserve country divorced from any one state.  Geithner's comments were not directed to the reserve currency question.  This issue was clarified by both the moderator and others covering the conference in which Geithner made this comment.

But in our gotcha game coverage we focus on HEAT not LIGHT.  Danny Schechter reminded me of this observation this morning.  It's more interesting to focus on the non-gaffe, gaffe and manufacturing the argument which seems to be, "see, Geithner is still stupid."  But there isn't much investment in LIGHT or insight.   If Ben Smith is going to editorialize with comments like "[Geithner is] surprisingly sanguine about a new world currency" (which is not ever accurate) then he might as well go further and write something worth reading.  However, his editorial is focused on maintaining the HEAT...and he succeeded.  The comment section under his post is preoccupied with Geithner's stupidity, Obama's stupidity, et al.  

But the LIGHT here is that the Treasury Secretary of the United States of America had to be overly diplomatic, gracious, and somewhat deferential to his biggest customer - the Chinese central bank apparatus. This behavior  in the context of the failure of the Gilt (the equivalent of a treasury note or bill in the UK) auction in London earlier  should give pause about the general sense of solvency of the United States and many Western powers. The fact that the markets would even react to Geithner's comments in any manner given the thought of the US currency no longer being the reserve, is the story.  

However, all this is missed when our media is focused on creating HEAT versus LIGHT.  Understanding this shortcoming should inform news consumers of how they should approach the products that the news organizations peddle.  The media in the United States is no less guilty of striving first and foremost for short-term gain through manufactured controversy than Wall Street was with risky lending.  We hope that the media is the next institution to collapse in disgrace and rise better through a process of creative destruction.