For a few hours at least today, the heat will be off George W Bush as America switches focus from Baghdad to San Diego. Maybe the Super Bowl will be the weapon of mass distraction that Bush has been praying for.

That lesson was reinforced for Danny Schechter when he covered one of the biggest stories of the decade: the election that brought Nelson Mandela to power in South Africa. The U.S. networks weren't interested in his vivid, insider's account of the Mandela campaign — and this at a time when hundreds of hours were broadcast about the O. J. Simpson trial. No wonder the creator of M.A.S.H. called TV "the weapon of mass distraction."