Last night MSNBC treated the breach of Barack Obama's passport file as major news devoting at least two hours of programming to the issue and uncovering, as the story unfolded, several strange discrepancies about the issue. Why did it take so long to inform Obama? How could three separate instances of file breach go unreported to top officials? Why were contract employees fired before they could answer questions? What did a former Clinton official have to do with the situation?
Most of these stories are still left unanswered.
But the bigger question is why most major media outlets seem to be downplaying the story. I couldn't find reference to it in the online edition of the NY Times. The Washington Post featured it as a sub-head. And here at home, there's a bullet mention on page 2 of the Hartford Courant, with a slightly more fleshed-out piece on page 4.
This is a leading Presidential contender whose private files were searched by unknown individuals. It seems like a major story to me.
Especially when these same papers can feature stories and scores for late-night NCAA tournament basketball games.
UPDATE: Read Glenn Greenwald on the topic.
