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Hot off the presses, Pew's Project for Excellence in Journalism released a new statistic for the 2010 midterm elections. The most covered candidate of the season was -- wait for it -- Christine "I'm Not a Witch" O’Donnell. (pictured left)

The GOP senate candidate went from zero name recognition to celebrity starlet in 48 days flat. The folks at Pew think it might be a new record. So, everybody, please give it up for: The News Media (with a little help from her friends, Bill Maher and SNL). She simply couldn’t have done it without you.

Kinda says it all about today’s media priorities, doesn’t it?

How on earth did we get here? Historically, journalism has always served two powerful interests: It’s own and that of the public. Greed/profit drives the former. Nobly holding government accountable under the first amendment drives the latter. Sensational reporting (the more salacious, the more vitriolic & partisan, the more trivial – the better) serves profit. Serious investigative reporting serves the public and the nation's good.

Since the Second World War, a rough balance was achieved between the two interests. To resolve the innate conflict between serving two masters, publishers often sought absolution in the notion that while “sex” sells, it underwrites the serious reporting. The problem is readers gravitate to the sensational content whenever it’s offered. (See the Huffington Post’s “Most Popular” sidebar for a classic example of the phenomenon.) The result is the dog chasing its own tail. But never mind, that’s another story.

Sometime after the election of Bill Clinton to the presidency, that balance of interests began to waver and tip toward the Gordon Gecko Motive: "Greed is good." In part, you can probably thank “that woman, Ms. Lewinski” with whom Clinton “did not have sexual relations.” That tawdry episode, and the parade of events it spawned, made gazillions for publishers. We’ve been skidding faster and faster down the proverbial slippery slope ever since. When the economic downturn hit, the media’s corporate masters simply stepped on the gas.

And so, here are today, fawning over a candidate from Delaware who will never, EVAH see the inside of the US Senate chamber. (If the polls are right, she’s on track to crash & burn in a landslide defeat tonight, god willing and the river don’t rise. News at 11.)

Pew's other top 10 candidate newsmakers in 2010 coverage were: Meg Whitman (90); Rand Paul (88); Joe Sestak (85); Sharron Angle (80); Harry Reid (74); Charlie Crist (67); Blanche Lincoln (52); Carl Paladino (52); Jerry Brown (49); and Joe Miller (47).

There is, however, good news in all of this for O’Donnell. Between the post-election book (you know it’s coming), TV appearances, GOP/Tea Party speaking engagements, A-List celebrity status and the inevitable Reality Show, she’s about to become a very wealthy woman.

And why not? She’s harmless and can walk away with no hits, no runs, no errors. Enjoy the fame, Chrissy. Oh, and when this election thing is over, do go out and buy yourself a fancy [expletive deleted]. You’ve earned a little self-love.