OK, here's the link of that article:
http://slate.msn.com/?id=2073304<p>Also, I have a real problem with most of this piece. The author thinks that quoting a real person who gives a banal response is as bad as making up a quote from someone who doesn't exist? Hello? Here's one difference: The latter will get you fired, and earn you the well-deserved contempt of your peers.<p>I'm also troubled by Jack's pooh-poohing of opposing views; he seems to be saying that if the quotes aren't catchy sound bites, they're not worth running, and AP shouldn't have let them run in the first place! Yeah, that makes a hell of a lot of sense.<p>Further, like blanp, I too question this lauding of AP as some sort of standard-bearer for hard news. Is this a joke? Is Slate in the business of Onion-like parody? Or is Jack Shafer as big an ignoramous as he sounds?