Interring the Lead at the NYT

Apparently Judith Miller isn't the only reporter at The New York Times who knows how to bury the lead on a major story: Mike McIntire does a pretty good job of it as well. On today's Metro section front, a huge headline screams "Institute Once Led by Ferrer Forms Base of His Support" and the lead essentially claims that Freddy Ferrer used the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy as a political launching pad for his current mayoral run. This, of course, is the line of the opposition and McIntire lapped it up entirely - at least on the first page. For those who turned to the jump [insert shocking Poynter Institute stats on readers who actually follow jumps here], the reporter did do a decent job of describing the incredible work that DMI does on a relatively small budget as a terrier of a progressive think tank. But c'mon Mike - you basically lead with a single-source accusation from political hitmen before telling the full story in the back; that, indeed, DMI completes a mass of policy work and helps to lead the discussion of the future of America policy. As a board member of DMI, I think the work of our think tank deserved better. As a Times subscriber, I think the readers did as well.