Dead Tree Alert: Defeat the Press

My column in this week's Time is about the McCain/Palin strategy of running against the media:

Palin, who majored in journalism but has since seen the error of her ways, not only out-celebritied Obama but also showed him how real celebrities handle the press.

Real celebrities don't make themselves available to every Tom, Dick and Katie. They play hard to get. And they have hard-nosed handlers, like McCain campaign manager Rick Davis, who vowed that Palin would not do interviews until the media "treat her with some level of respect and deference."

Incidentally, with a print deadline and the Project Runway Bryant Park show this morning, I don't know when or if I will catch all the installments of the Charles Gibson - Sarah Palin interview, so feel free to use this as an open thread to comment on them.

So far, I'd say that Gibson has proved the flip side of celebrity journalism: whatever "deference" it takes to land the interview, it doesn't mean you have to roll over when actually asking the questions.