Political/Media Books the New Mother's Milk of the Glass Teat

Newsday columnist Paul Vitello is so sick of journalists selling books on TV that he comes out and says "this insider trading on the public airwaves seems unethical," but when you get right down to it, he really doesn't have much to say other than that it bugs him, and then the article just flops on its back and dies. I mean, really, it's kind of hard to get worked up about Tim Russert going on talk shows to plug a book about his dad, unless maybe you're a crankcase. And let's face it: guys like Hannity, O'Reilly, and that ilk aren't even journalists; they're pundits, and all a reasonable person can expect from them is to promote themselves and their opinions. The books exist only to promote the TV shows which exist only to promote the books, and Rupert Murdoch usually gets a cut out of both. (Is there a Fox News personality who doesn't have a HarperCollins deal? I'm just asking...)

Caryn James, on the other hand, has much closer analysis of how political authors--some of whom, like Bob Woodward and Ron Suskind, are journalists--use television to promote their books. This is a much more insightful article, and does touch upon a genuinely compelling ethical point and its resolution:

Because Viacom owns CBS as well as Simon & Schuster and the Free Press, there has been much speculation about synergy, and "60 Minutes" declared its corporate link on the air after the Woodward interview. But the books have validated the attention. Mr. Clarke's forceful narrative and behind-the-scenes details allow him to make a strong case that the Bush White House dangerously neglected terrorism in favor of going after Iraq. Like Mr. O'Neill and Mr. Wilson, he had served under Republican administrations, and each of these books carries the weight of someone who reluctantly, thoughtfully, changed his mind about a former boss's policies.