Media dropping the ball in coverage of money in politics

HB 1900, which Governor Matt Blunt signed into law earlier today, had to have a certain appeal to the legislators who voted for it.
The bill removes all campaign contribution limits, but eliminates the legislative district committees that have been laundering the contributions to avoid those limits. Then the law's proponents tell us it's for our own good, because they are strengthening disclosure requirements and it will all be open for us to see.
As I wrote earlier today, most taxpayers do not have the time or the inclination to pore through these documents and the people who are supposed to be ombudsmen, keeping an eye on the politicians, the media, cannot or will not do the job.
It was one year ago today that the Joplin Globe conducted its first investigation into the gifts being accepted by our local lobbyists. It wasn't a bad job, though a bit superficial. The amounts were given, the lobbyists were named and Globe reporter Debby Woodin used quotes from representatives Steve Hunter, Ron Richard and Ed Emery, and senator Gary Nodler, as well as lobbyist and former state representative Gary Burton.
The Globe editors did their bit with the tabloid headline "Lobbyists lavish gifts," but that was it. The story missed the point entirely and suffered from almost little or no digging.
A sidebar listed what Hunter, Richard, Marilyn Ruestman, Bryan Stevenson, Kevin Wilson, Ed Emery, and Nodler received, and from what lobbyists, but there is no mention in that sidebar of what special interests these lobbyists represented. To most readers, this was just a list of names. (A few of the bigger ones were listed in the article itself.)
And there was no examination of how, or if, the gifts influenced the legislators. How did they vote on issues that affected the special interests from which they received gifts? Did they sponsor legislation that would benefit those interests? Those votes and legislation do not necessarily constitute any wrongdoing or any corruption, but they can establish a pattern and can often show ways in which legislators put these special interests' needs ahead of the needs of their constituents.
The Globe article was a nice beginning, though, as I pointed out one year ago. As far as I can determine, the issue has not been broached again by the newspaper. With the public attention that national scandals like the Jack Abramoff situation, there was absolutely no excuse for not having a followup on lobbyists. In fact, there is no excuse for not having regular information in the Globe and on its website about this. The Globe's job is to seek information that will be useful to its readers. That's what makes journalism a valuable public service.
It's unfortunate that the Globe has been derelict in its duty. Even more unfortunate, the Globe is one of many newspapers and media outlets that fall into that category.