In The New York Times today an article written in anticipation of a speech by President Bush shows the proactive stance this administration is now taking against Cuba. The article explains the gist of the speech up front in the lede and gradually fills in the details and tactics the President will use to encourage Cubans to resist a handover of the government from Fidel Castro to his brother Raul. The article wisely waits until the end to include comments from various experts after it has already outlined the text of the speech and its accompanying appearances.

Today's coverage of the recent arrest of a Wellesley College student for stabbing her ex-boyfriend yet again makes me grateful that Boston is a two-newspaper town. The Boston Globe presents little more information than it had yesterday when it first broke the story online and sticks to the facts in a case in which everything, of course, is still alleged. The Boston Herald, on the other hand, revels in its own sensationalism, raising several questions about the lunacy of its coverage. First of all, the headline: "Dumped coed knifes ex." Can a student at a women's college even be called a coed? Why "knifes" and not "stabs?" Oh, I know why: so the reporter can follow that headline with a lede involving the word "slashed." But for all its sensationalism, The Herald actually scoops The Globe. The Herald is the only paper of the two to name the victim, his dorm, the nature and location of his wounds and the means by which the Wellesley student obtained access to campus and entry to his room. It also interviews the victim's parents. The Globe, meanwhile, sticks to the neutral response of Wellesley's head of public affairs. I hate to say it, but The Globe was actually out-reported on this story, even though it presented the facts in a much more respectful and responsible tone.