The news media, like everyone else, engages in a delicate balancing act when it comes to discussing the newly deceased, providing the dead the respect they’re due while also making sure not to gloss over their faults and flaws. Ted Kennedy, for all his great accomplishments and admirable qualities, clearly had his share of faults and flaws, most notably the infamous Chappaquiddick incident that killed Mary Jo Kopechne. Editor and Publisher combed through yesterday’s coverage of Kennedy’s passing to see when various papers first mentioned Chappaquiddick, and the results are pretty interesting. The Hill ignored the subject entirely, while the Boston Globe brought it up the quickest, in the fifth paragraph of its writeup.
Kennedy and Chappaquiddick–in the Obits [E and P via Political Wire]
