How Not to Keep Your Head Down

On the Katrina e-mails, it was inevitable, with several congressional investigations, that they would eventually surface. By holding back the exchanges involving the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the White House ceded the story to the "congressional investigators" cited in the Times story on Feb. 10, the morning that former FEMA chief Michael Brown was to testify before a Senate panel -- and let Brownie blame the administration in an advance interview.

The dozen or so Abramoff photos mean little by themselves, since the president does grip-and-grins with thousands of supporters, visitors and even reporters each year. But in the video age, everyone wanted the image of the two men together. By withholding the pictures, the White House inadvertently elevated their importance. So Time made news with a shot of Bush meeting with Indian tribal leaders represented by Abramoff -- even though the lobbyist was so far in the background you practically needed a magnifying glass to see him.

These episodes have reinforced the public perception that the administration routinely stiffs the press. Why, then, has the White House waited for the facts to dribble out?

"Human nature," Clarke says. "Your natural instinct is just to go underground and say, 'If we avoid this, maybe it will just go away.' "

The People's Choice

Newsrooms aren't exactly democracies, but a Madison, Wis., newspaper has decided to give readers a vote.

On the Web site of the Wisconsin State Journal, people can now pick which of five stories they want to see on the next morning's front page, and the winner is guaranteed such display, with a yellow bar labeled "Readers' Choice."

"People were worried about this being some sort of popularity contest, with a lot of celebrity and entertainment coverage, but that's not how it worked out," says Tim Kelley, managing editor of the 93,000-circulation paper. "The readers have preferred hard news and analysis over some lighter fare."

One day, readers picked an analysis of the Hamas victory in the Palestinian elections over pieces on identity theft, General Motors' losses and the anniversary of the Challenger explosion. Another day, they voted for a story on a big retail chain overcharging customers, rather than a report on the health benefits of fish oil and a feature on a club formed to curb schoolyard bullying.

In another instance, half voted for a story on whether the state legislature would allow the carrying of concealed guns, followed by one on Onion editors complaining they can't find fat New Yorkers for fake photos (21 percent), a follow-up to the State of the Union (14 percent), a study of why people cheat on diets (8 percent) and the Samuel Alito confirmation (6 percent). As many as 700 people have participated in the electronic balloting.

"Editors always think health stories are what people want to read," Kelley says. "There was a time we tried to put a health story on the front page every day. This challenges us to think more broadly about what belongs on Page 1."

Exit Signs

Ron Insana, host of CNBC's "Street Signs" and a mainstay anchor for the financial network since 1991, is bailing out, more or less. He will become a daily commentator so he can start a financial business.

"It's a challenge I just really had to try," explains Insana, saying he could not yet describe the new venture. Although he has "wildly mixed feelings" about giving up anchoring after two decades, "an exciting opportunity came my way. I'm going to take a shot."

Now Insana can try to make the big bucks rather than just analyzing the market for others.