Gosh, a Journalist Actually Asked a Question

I was half listening to "Nightline" while I worked just now, and I heard someone (I didn't see the reporter or name listed, and by the time I checked, it was John Burns of the New York Times) say (paraphrasing), "In fact, there have been so many rumors about Iraq Prime Minister Allawi's acts of violence that a journalist actually asked Allawi about them."

Pardon me? Is it a new concept that if you're hearing rumors about someone newsworthy that you would actually ask that person about it? And then, let's do something really radical.

Whether or not the person denies it, the journalist might actually check into the facts behind the rumors, independent of the person's acknowledgement or denial. If you did both of those strange things, you might actually earn the [bleeping] title of journalist.

Yes, I know. The press corps has spent four years asking Mr. Bush what they should say and making certain Karl Rove's OK with it, but journalists used to do silly things like research and ask questions. If they don't, you tend to think of the bloody "news" report as a press release.