Friday, February 04, 2005

Felicity Barringer's "E.P.A." Accused of a Predetermined Finding on Mecury" is buried inside the paper (page A13)

While Judy Miller's grudge-f---ing the UN one more time, anyone else noting Felicity Barringer's story inside the paper? "E.P.A. Accused of a Predetermined Finding on Mercury"
seems more than worthy of the front page.

Here's the opening paragraph:

The Environmental Protection Agency's inspector general charged on Thursday that the agency's senior management instructed staff members to arrive at a predetermined conclusion favoring industry when they prepared a proposed rule last year to reduce the amount of mercury emitted from coal-fired power plants.

Barringer's story even includes the remarks of two senators (John Kerry and "outraged by the outrage" James M. Inhofe).

So why isn't this on the front page?

Let's see . . . EPA, mercury poisoning . . . Seems kind of big. So why is it buried inside the paper when Miller's on the front page along with John Markoff and Nat Ives writing the world shattering (I'm sure) "Web Search Sites See Clicks Add Up to Big Ad Dollas."

Guess we're back to the 'matter of emphasis.' Certainly isn't a "public service" issue since obviously Barringer's story trumps another fluff piece regarding "there's money to be made on the net!"