Obama Abroad: We Get the Picture

An unspoken assumption is that Obama, who enjoys a slight lead in the polls, is the odds-on favorite to win. In an upcoming People cover story, a reporter asks the candidate and his wife, Michelle, about their daughters: "How are you preparing them for possible life in the White House?"

Some journalists defend the coverage as a matter of marketing: Obama is hot, McCain is not.

"The Obama phenomenon is so much the better story -- an obscure African American senator from Illinois, little known to most Americans two years ago, emerges as very probably the next president," says Terence Smith, a former correspondent for CBS and PBS. "That is a fantastic story. Of course it's going to get two or three times the space and attention and airtime of John McCain, who, while he may be a very appealing semi-maverick on his bus, is a much more conventional candidate."

By that standard, though, journalists can continue to lavish more coverage on Obama simply by declaring him a more fascinating guy.

Chris Wallace, host of "Fox News Sunday," says no one has to apologize for covering the "extraordinary" trip. And, he says, "there is no question in my mind there is more interest in Obama. It's the news business; you want to sell magazines. Some of it is flavor of the month. And there is some bias."

But overall, says Wallace, "I don't know that that's a good excuse. One would hope there would be rough parity in the coverage."

The power of stirring images was on display again yesterday in Berlin. Moments after finishing his speech at the Victory Column, as 200,000 Germans cheered, Obama strolled off with Brian Williams, camera crew in tow, to talk about what had just transpired.