Texas Press - We stay away from salacious rumors, honest

San Antonio Express-News: Despite the bloviations about liberal media bias from the Limbaughs, the O'Reillys, the Coulters and others of their ilk, the newspaper people I know take their responsibilities seriously. Otherwise, given those liberal inclinations, why wouldn't they (we) have seized the opportunity to sneer at the Perry family's alleged problems, take a whack at conservative hypocrisy? Why not gleefully help spread the damaging gossip, thereby buttressing its credibility?

The reason is, it's not news — news, that is, that a self-governing people can actually use.

We'll keep "dogging" the governor — that's our job — and if a divorce decree shows up in some court somewhere, we'll report it. If Perry, in hot pursuit of a terrified secretary of state, is spotted running nude down Congress Avenue — nude, that is, except for the knee-high Aggie boots he favors for special occasions — we'll report that too. And if former nurse Anita Perry decides to sharpen her surgical skills in ways philandering husbands would prefer not to imagine, well ... Oh, sorry, I was letting my imagination run away with me. I was being irresponsible.