From WNYC in New York, this is NPR's On the Media.

I'm Bob Garfield.

And I'm Brooke Gladstone.

The big media story this week involves John McCain and the New York Times.

Here's MSNBC's Keith Oberman, ABC's Jake Tapper, and Fox's John Gibson.

Our fifth story on the countdown, Vicky Gate, the Isman Trophy, the smear of the century,

the scandal with no scandal there.

You take your pick for the title.

It's exactly the last kind of story a presidential candidate wants on the

front page of major newspapers, let alone a candidate who prides himself on ethics, integrity,

and standing up to special interests. The story has a lot of innuendo, very little proof,

so in the end, will it hurt the times more than it will hurt McCain? The story, published in

Thursday's paper, based largely on the testimony of unnamed former

McCain staffers, suggests that some years back, the senator had grown too close to lobbyist

Vicky Isman.

Those staffers reportedly confronted Isman about the relationship, and even McCain himself,

a claim he denies.

The story also suggests that McCain may have done favors for at least one of Iceman's clients. The piece was the latest

in a time series about the lives of the candidates called The Long Run. Serious questions were

asked, but few definitive answers supplied. The Republican National Committee answered by instantly firing off emails to open the pockets of the faithful,

uniting them in their shared loathing of the Grey Lady.

Even as vigorous a McCain basher as Rush Limbaugh knew a common enemy when he saw one.

...