John Humphrys thinks that our 24-hour news culture could be a bad thing for politics.
The BBC's top rottweiler said today politicians were "increasingly nervous of thinking aloud" partly because in the 24-hour news environment people could immediately latch on to their comments.
It does seem that sometimes a needless frenzy develops around what might otherwise be seen as an aside or a throwaway remark.
Perhaps with the relentless pressure to find a new spin on a tired political debate, journalists are at times guilty of making mountains out of molehills. Forgivable exuberance on a quiet day, maybe.
But if that is inhibiting openness in important debates and politicians are forced to retreat into platitudes or the defensive postures for which they are so readily criticised, should the media start worrying that it is contributing to the problem?
