Just what makes news and what doesn't in this election?

It’s certainly an interesting time to be observing what makes the news. While sipping coffee on the morning of July 27, I had the opportunity to channel surf. And how can one not stop when the image of Donald Trump appears on the screen? Because after all, you always wonder what will next come out of his mouth?

Turns out Trump was conducting a press conference at Doral, Fla. and taking questions from the assembled press corps whose job it is to report on what the Republican’s nominee for president says.

The tough part of the event was hearing the questions being fired from all directions at the podium. Unlike a White House presser where microphones are present and the event seems well rehearsed, the Trump Q & A had questions shouted and viewers were left to guess what was asked.

CNN reporters Ashley Killough and Jeremy Diamond wrote that Trump “bounced from one topic to the next,” but they failed to note that the press conference’s direction was in fact dictated by those asking the questions. Reporters asked repeatedly when Trump was going to release his tax returns. He told them more than one time his attorneys had the final word. This was the first time I have been able, or have cared to listen to a live press conference, albeit probably only 20 minutes worth. I thought the exercise might give me an idea of what might make news that day or night.

Seemed taxes would be a hot button because it sure was with Mitt Romney in 2012.

Of all the things that I least thought would soon lead the top-of and bottom-of the-hour newsbreaks was Trump’s tongue-and-cheek reply to a question on whether Russia was behind the hacks to the Democratic National Committee.

“I will tell you this, Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 (Hillary Clinton) emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Let’s see that happen,” he said.

If not the tardy tax returns, surely the story would be Trump misidentifying the home state of Tim Kaine, Clinton’s pick for vice president who is from Virginia, not New Jersey.

Or that it was the reference to John, not David Hinckley — the man who made the assassination attempt on former president Ronald Reagan — who was released from prison.

But surprise, surprise, the lead in news reports for the next 24-48 hours was Trump’s jokingly referring to whether the Russians had Clinton’s emails. His joke went over the heads of the press corps. And by the time it ran its course the word treason somehow found its way into the story.

Which brings me to an important point.

Trump spoke two days after the opening of the rival party’s convention, and right on the heels of the announcement, July 25, that WikiLeaks had emails from the Democratic National Committee’s server, allegedly the original work of the Russians.

But that story largely died following the resignation of party chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who took responsibility for allowing the hack.

It perished despite release of the juicy content of some of those messages that not only revealed how the party helped chop the legs off the Bernie Sanders campaign, but were darn embarrassing in their disparaging content as well.

But nothing to see here, says the media.

In this campaign, there’s no one who can step in a big pile of poop better, faster and more regularly than Trump. But it is equally amazing how clean Clinton’s shoes remain in a yard littered with her share of messes.

And now WikiLeak founder Julian Assange says he has a new collection of Clinton emails with her name attached to dealings in Libya and Syria.

With under 100 days remaining until arguably the most important presidential election of our time, what will guide the headlines?

Will it be the curiosity that is supposed to be a driving force in journalism, or the partisan nature of the journalists covering the story?

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].