Suggestions in the guise of news

Once upon a time, reporters would be prohibited from offering their opinions and speculation in the guise of “suggestions”. The New York Times hit a triple on Dec 7, 2016, when three of its stories ran on facing pages of the Boston Globe, and all offered “suggestions”. A story about Bob Dole’s role in Trump’s phone conversation with the President, of Taiwan, says: “The documents suggest that Trump’s decision to take a telephone call….” A story about a study on climate change leads with, “Decades of research suggest that a climate change will lead to an increase in big storms….” And a story about Brexist leads with, “For months, Britain’s government has suggested that….” and in the story there’s, “Barnier suggested that while in theory there would be two years….”

I don’t suggest, but I recommend that the New York Times — whose slogan, “All the news that’s fit to print,” is evidently only a suggestion — hire some wide-awake copy editors who demand facts and not fuzzy interpretation, opinion or speculation in the guise of news.