The Specter of Jail

Keller orders up "the introduction of Web links that will allow readers of Times articles on-line to contact the authors. As recommended by the committee, we will give readers access to 'dialogue boxes' that allow them to send a message to a reporter without disclosing the reporter's actual e-mail address. . . .

"We must, as the committee says, be more alert to nuances of language when writing about contentious issues. The committee picked a few examples -- the way the word 'moderate' conveys a judgment about which views are sensible and which are extreme, the misuse of 'religious fundamentalists' to describe religious conservatives -- but there are many pitfalls involved when we try to convey complex ideas as simply as possible, on deadline."

As for attracting a more diverse staff, "the point is not that we should begin recruiting reporters and editors for their political outlook; it is part of our professional code that we keep our political views out of the paper. The point is that we want a range of experience. We have a recruiting committee that tracks promising outside candidates, and that committee has already begun to consider ways to enrich the variety of backgrounds of our reporters and editors. First and foremost we hire the best reporters, editors, photographers and artists in the business. But we will make an extra effort to focus on diversity of religious upbringing and military experience, of region and class.

"Of course, diversifying the range of viewpoints reported -- and understood -- in our pages is not mainly a matter of hiring a more diverse work force. It calls for a concerted effort by all of us to stretch beyond our predominantly urban, culturally liberal orientation, to cover the full range of our national conversation."

That's so good I'm tempted to call it "moderate."

Finally, for those creeped out by ABC's "Idol" expose, the Sacramento Bee reports:

"Corey Clark, the 'American Idol' contestant who claimed to have an affair with contest judge Paula Adbul from the Fox TV talent show, was cited on a charge of misdemeanor domestic violence against his girlfriend Saturday at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in downtown Sacramento, police said."

Paula was smart to dump him.