Pastor Terry Jones and the media: a burning issue

As the headlines change hourly on whether the Florida pastor at the centre of the controversy over his church's plan to burn the Qur'an at a commemoration of the 11 September terror attacks, and has now become entangled with the Cordoba Institute's proposal for an Islamic centre in New York, has this news story got out of hand? If so, who do you blame? Is it simply the media blowing an insignificant if provocative act out of all proportion? But what, then, are we to make of the fact that everyone from General David Petraeus to President Barack Obama has pronounced on the issue? Of all the US TV networks, interestingly Fox News has said it would not cover the Qur'an burning, should it go ahead. Should other media organisations follow its lead and exercise restraint? Or, after all, does the public have a right to follow the story to its conclusion?