Out-of-Town Critics Too Tough On Thompson?

Harris says each of the episodes has been overblown or wrenched out of context. In the Schiavo case, he says, Thompson was saying such matters should be left to local jurisdictions but "was honest enough to say he didn't have all the details."

On the Everglades question, Harris says the candidate was "laughing" as he made the remarks, but didn't pretend to be fully briefed on the issue. "When the American people are looking for a president, I don't think they're looking for an encyclopedia, they're looking for a leader. . . . If the news media think the American people choose a president based on whether he does three or five events a day, the press corps is even more detached from reality than I previously thought."

Some of Thompson's local coverage has been positive. "Thompson Brings Reagan's Style to GOP," said a Tampa Tribune piece. "Thompson Winner with Hometown Crowd," said the Huntsville, Ala., Times. "Ex-Senator Has Support from Conservatives," said the Charlotte Observer. St. Petersburg Times columnist Adam Smith wrote that the Washington pundits "need to get out of the Beltway for a few days" and are "underestimating the hunger among Republicans for an alternative to the current field."

It's possible that national reporters are failing to grasp Thompson's appeal, and by granting few interviews to major news outlets other than Fox News, he is hardly going out of his way to court them. But they remain a force to be reckoned with.

Running for president is an obstacle course, and one of the things voters watch is how you handle press scrutiny, no matter how overbearing or unfair. Thompson may like this story line far less than the "Law & Order" episodes portraying him as a crusading prosecutor, but he can't reject the script.

Diplomatic Incident

Washington Post reporter Glenn Kessler hasn't been the most popular person at the State Department since his biography of Condoleezza Rice was published last month. "The Confidante" describes Rice as "one of the weakest national security advisers in U.S. history" and says her appointment of spokesman Sean McCormack "greatly angered traditionalists at State" because others were viewed as more experienced.

When Rice was about to hold a news conference with several foreign leaders at the U.N. on Sept. 23, the assembled reporters -- who rotate questions at these brief availabilities -- told McCormack's assistant that it was Kessler's turn to ask a question for the American press. The assistant returned with word that CNN producer Elise Labott would be called on instead. Labott, who heads the State Department Correspondents Association, refused. The aide said McCormack didn't want Kessler to ask the question. If that was the case, Labott said, the U.S. press corps would forgo its question.

At the news conference, the U.N. spokesman, working from McCormack's list, called on Labott, who announced that she was deferring to Kessler. He asked Rice about a planned Mideast conference.

McCormack says he asks the press for "suggestions" but that "I reserve the right to make my own suggestions." He says he told the U.N. spokesman to call on Labott first, and then Kessler if there was time for a second question. As for "The Confidante," McCormack says: "I don't do book reviews."

Kessler says he was "surprised" by the incident, adding: "I've never been officially told by anyone at State that there was any issue with my book."

Scaife Scuffle

Richard Mellon Scaife, the conservative publisher, gained national attention in the 1990s for giving the American Spectator $1.8 million to dig up dirt on Bill Clinton.

Last week, though, the publisher of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review was trying to keep information out of the press. Scaife's attorneys went to court to demand that the rival Pittsburgh Post-Gazette return documents involving his divorce.

Further dissemination of the documents "would not merely serve to embarrass the parties, but could endanger their security," Scaife's filing said. A judge rejected the request Thursday.

The Post-Gazette obtained the sealed file from a public Web site after a county official's error. The paper detailed the battle over Scaife's $1.4 billion fortune and the order that he pay his wife $725,000 a month in temporary support.

Why should even a billionaire's family fight be made public? The Post-Gazette quoted its editor, David Shribman, as saying the proceedings were "highly newsworthy" and that Scaife had asked the court to do "something unprecedented" in imposing prior restraint on a newspaper.

Musical Chairs

Must be the season: Veteran Los Angeles Times reporter Ron Brownstein has become political director of the Atlantic and National Journal. Gloria Borger has jumped from CBS News to CNN. And David Corn of the Nation is the new Washington bureau chief for Mother Jones magazine.