I have been watching the media grumbling about Barack Obama's press relations with interest. Everything from the way he sent campaign reporters to another city while he met with Hillary Clinton to the way his people kept women in Muslim headgear from sitting behind him at a rally, shows me some troubling signs.

One of the issues that concerns me most about Obama is the possibility that he will let the constant false rumors and attacks from some media outlets come to define his relations wtih all press in the way Bill and Hillary Clinton have. True enough, journalists aren't housepets to hold in your lap, but Obama will see a lot of his new reformer sheen fall away if he slags off the press too often -- McCain has shown how much you can get away with, in terms of changing your positions and playing politics, if the press corp essentially likes you.

If he meets the preass wth a huge chip on his shoulder all the time -- again, as the Clintons have -- he won't get nearly the coverage he needs.

I talk a fair amount about these issues and others -- where was media coverage of the Midwest floods as journalists spent days eulogizing Tim Russert on cable TV? -- on National Public Radio's News and Notes show, which will be posted online at  3 p.m. today. Hear me with host Farai Chideya and CNN anchor Frederika Whitfield (I KNOW...what was I doing there?).