Tuesday, November 26, 2002

HOLD THAT TIGER: I don't quite get the argument that some are making -- that if the New York Times doesn't want Tiger Woods to play the Masters at Augusta National this year or CBS to broadcast the event, that the Times should itself boycott the Masters and refuse to provide print coverage.

This argument misses the distinction between the news and editorial functions of a newspaper. When all the world's best golfers play at the same tournament, it is newsworthy, whether or not you believe they should be playing there. One wouldn't expect or want the Times to refuse to cover the signing of a bill for which it had sought the President's veto, or for the Times not to send Linda Greenhouse to report upon a Supreme Court opinion which the Times had hoped would go the other way. (It would have been a much shorter paper in December 2000, for sure.)

The Masters tournament is newsworthy. It's up to all the PGA players, CBS and the members of Augusta National to determine what kind of story it will be.

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