From WNYC in New York, this is on the media.

I'm Brooke Gladstone.

And I'm Bob Garfield.

This week, President Obama revealed that we are not alone in feeling that this election season is unsettling.

The number one question I'm getting as I travel around the world or talk to world leaders right now is what is happening in America about our politics.

And he proposed that some of the disarray could be laid at the feet of the media.

I think the electorate would be better served if we spent less time focused on the he said, she said back and forth of our politics.

That, he declared, is not the fundamental purpose of journalism.

A job well done is about more than just handing someone a microphone.

It's to probe and to question and to dig deeper.

Especially in times like these when so much is at stake. Because a well-informed

electorate depends on you. Our democracy depends on a well-informed electorate. Beautiful words, Mr.

President, but words should not be confused with actions. Let's remember that this is a president

who has been especially tough

on legitimate whistleblowers and whose White House media machine routinely limits access to the press,

and that this is the president who often asserts that...

This is the most transparent administration in history.

While continually battening down the hatches, Representative Jason

Sheffitz of Utah.

This is a pattern of stonewalling, and this administration, the Obama administration, more

than 550,000 times, has denied requests for Americans to get information from their government.

A recent Associated Press analysis found that this White House has set a new record for

...