"The one thing that’s clear is that the new political journalism has to be built for a moment of crisis, not stability, something that citizens of less happy democracies are more accustomed to." buzzfeednews.com/article/bensmi…
FWIW, I think covering politics as sports was unreasonable then, and -- as Smith alludes -- the sort of thing one could only find acceptable due to a lack of skin in the game. 
The stakes were always too high to treat politics as a game. But a generation of political journalists treated it that way anyway.
Anyway, I'm in favor and appreciative of converts, and I'm glad the discussion has moved toward the position of the dirty bloggers and @mmfa types. Because we were right.
But perhaps keep in mind, in case we ever move to a place in politics where the stakes are no longer high for you, that they will still be too high for the people who depend on your work.
