They're what journalists are supposed to explain. 'We'll focus on the issues' is the vow in virtually every newsroom in virtually every campaign. Ideally, it means producing comprehensive, thoughtful analyses of candidates' positions on economic growth, health care, education, defense, the environment, and so on."

There is, however, a story that became the political issue when Senator Berry's public life, for whatever, became entangled in the lives of not one, but five of his staff people; all women, and all with similar accounts of allegations of a criminal nature. It is not in discord with the ethics of professional journalism to report on this story. That the allegations involve a public officer, whose behavior is incompatible with that of a publicly elected official, and, if the charges are substantiated, are criminal in nature, in which case much more than the Senator's office would be at stake. It is the responsibility...
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