the kicker

"A Lack Of Corroboration"

Enquirer 1, MSM 0
August 8, 2008

So, yeah, looks like the National Enquirer was onto something after all with those John Edwards-Rielle Hunter allegations. Wondering why this story was so underreported? The Washington Post, at least in the early edition of its story, is attempting to explain away its silence:

Most major news organizations, including The Washington Post, did not report the allegations against Edwards because of a lack of corroboration.

The sort of corroboration that, presumably, might have been found by doing some reporting?

I know. It’s not that simple. More on this soon.

Justin Peters is editor-at-large of the Columbia Journalism Review.