Missing the Circus for the Clowns

BREAKING: OPPOSITION RESEARCH STAFF OFTEN TIP REPORTERS TO STORIES DAMAGING TO THEIR RIVALS!

Salon's all over it.

Sorry, I don't mean to be overly cynical about this ultra-meta-super-process story; because reporters are often less than transparent about this process, I'm sure there are news consumers who don't realize that a damaging story about candidate X was spurred by an email from a flack for candidate Y. And because the ultimate oppo prize is Matt Drudge, whose opaqueness far more obscure than any MSM journalist, the trail from YouTube to the NYT can be very hard to follow indeed.

That said, I think it's Nagourney that comes off best in this piece -- the most willing to err on the side of public disclosure, and the least willing to get seduced by the thrill of a source.