In an age when celebrity news garners most readers' attention and newspapers are forced to shut their international bureaux with alarming frequency, I often worry that American media cannot keep its audience adequately informed on foreign affairs. The lead story on the front page of The New York Times today helps restore my confidence in the watchdog role of the media abroad. The article discloses for the first time information on secret U.S. efforts to help Pakistan safeguard its nuclear weapons. The article offers a history of the actions, going back as far as the Clinton administration to point to U.S. officials' concerns about Pakistan's nuclear arms. The article handled the issue of transparency very well -- just as I was beginning to wonder at the lack of attributions in the first few paragraphs, the article devotes three paragraphs to explaining the paper's decision to release this story now after having been asked by the Bush administration not to do so in the past due to security concerns.

Further down the front page, though, another NYT article scares me--just a little. The article describes a South Korean rehab/boot camp for Internet addicts. The anecdotes and statistics provided are shocking. One 15-year-old sees no problem with spending 17 hours a day online; the article returns to him later in the day after he gave this statement to find that the rigorous physical activities at the camp have him changing his tune somewhat. The article does a great job giving context for the opening of such a boot camp in South Korea by describing the universality of Internet access there in a culture even more web-obsessed than Americans are.

A Boston Globe article today is equally tragic but handled well. An article on the death of a student in Allston Friday night opens with the tone of murder mystery--unknown cause of death, suspected to have fallen from the roof, found by police who were on the scene to break up a major fight. The unclear circumstances surrounding the death, which are likely the cause of the story's newsworthiness, gives way to thoughtful reflections on the young victim. The article includes comments from just about every possible facet of the man's life: family, friends, professors, employer, other party guests. It seems much more fitting that the article focus on the loss of young life rather than sensationalizing the causes of death. The Boston Herald, naturally, was less discreet in its coverage and writes of the incident with all the hype of a rowdy brawl turned fatal.