I was surprised when I arrived at Page One of the Albuquerque Journal this morning. "1st 9/11 Plan Had 10 Planes" was the headline.
The story was a report on the proceedings of the independent 9/11 Commission which, I knew, had made other news.
Then I saw that the Dallas Morning News reporter who wrote the story put that angle in her lead paragraph. It is traditional and proper for headline writers to work from the lead.
Not until she reached her third paragraph did reporter, Michelle Mittelstadt offer what I saw as the lead of the story. She said there: "And in a conclusiuon that could prove damaging to the Bush Administration," the panel rejected White House assertionsof ties between al-Qadea and Iraq. And then quoted the panel:
"We have no credible evidence that Iraq and al-Qaida cooperated on attacks against the United States."
News judgement is no science. I do not suggest that the lady from he Dallas News is wrong.
However, the Journal can choose from many sources for its national stories including the AP, Knight-Ridder and (I believe) the Los Angeles Times. I wonder why they chose a Texas newspaper's account.