Criminal Minds

A New York Times article today increases transparency over the controversial issue of the National Security Agency’s secret wiretapping program. The report by Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, that he has not used warrantless wiretapping since he assumed his position in February may seem at first like a lack of news, but in this case, it is the news the public ought to hear. The article does a thorough job explaining the background for the controversial wiretapping program, and the inclusion of recent legislation passed before the August recess to allow certain kinds of wiretapping brings readers up to date on the privacy issues that still remain.

The Times of London has been covering the Madeleine McCann case devotedly since it broke, and their coverage today of the McCann’s move to solicit legal counsel builds on past news stories. The article has a very clear lede, but a comment from a representative for the McCann’s that the lawyer in question has not officially been retained seems to dispute the headline. For those who have not been following the story quite as religiously as The Times has, it might have been helpful to include further details on the naming of the McCanns as suspects, since this itself was uncertain only about a week ago. The Times does, however, include extensive information in a question and answer section on the story.

The Boston Globe raises more questions than answers in an article about a cheating scandal at Hanover (N.H.) High School. How were the cheaters identified? What evidence, beyond sliced window screens discovered before the alleged break-in, led school officials to involve the police? What is the history of cheating at Hanover High School, and have there been other incidents? The article is colored by its depiction of the children against whom charges will be brought as “privileged,” but it neglects to suggest what kind of students they were, which is just as relevant to this story.

A pair of articles in The Patriot Ledger takes a more detailed approach to a criminal verdict in a ruling against a mother from Carver who killed her son in 2005. The articles give background on the conviction—a description of the murder as it was presented in court—and suggest the future ahead for the convicted woman, including her family’s fear that treatment will not be enough to protect them from her.