Reporters are nothing but parrots

Here's the money quote from New York Times Managing Editor Jill Abramson, who explains why the unfounded insinuation about an 8-year-old possible affair just HAD to be in that Times McCain story last week:

If the editors had summarily decided to edit out the issue of romance, because of possible qualms over "sexual innuendo" or some of the others issues cited in the reader questions, our story would not have been a complete and accurate reflection of what our sources told our reporters.

TRANSLATION: We repeat whatever we're told. We don't question it, we don't confirm it, we don't edit it. We just repeat it. Because that's what a good stenographer reporter does.