The latest knot is about whether the mainstream media (newspapers, television and radio, as opposed to blogs and tabloid publications) should have jumped in right after The National Enquirer and others printed stories about the rumors that former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards was cheating on his wife (who has stage 4 cancer) while he was running for the top political job in the country.

Remember, please, that the flap is about printing rumors, not investigating rumors to track down fact.

The mainstream media outlets - for the most part - stayed clear of the Edwards rumors until after Edwards finally admitted the affair, saying he told his wife about it in 2006.

The National Enquirer, apparently hearing the rumor, rushed out to California where it exercised its stock-in-trade, checkbook journalism, to buy information from a source extremely close to the mistress (some folks guesstimate the information came from the mistress in exchange for a big fat check).

The coup de grace, of course, came when The Enquirer finally printed a fuzzy photo of Edwards holding a baby in the hotel room where the paper previously said Edwards visited his mistress. I am sure that photo was bought and paid for also.

Finally, Edwards could deny the rumors no longer and admitted the affair, although he denied the baby was his.

You can see how messy this has become. In addition to the admitted affair, The Enquirer has reported that Edwards' former aide and pal Andrew Young has claimed the mistress' baby is his. Also there are allegations that some prominent Democratic moneybags have supported the mistress and Young to keep the ruse alive.

Whew! I'm fatigued just relating all that.

The mainstream media jumped onboard when Edwards admitted the affair (although he insists his wife's cancer was in remission while he was romancing the blonde).

The Salt Lake Tribune printed a Cal Thomas column this week in which the conservative columnist said the Edwards mess was like " 'Momma Mia' without the music."

Thomas insists that Democrats get a pass in the sexual dalliance department while Republicans - such as Larry Craig, Mark Foley, etc., are held to a higher standard.

Tribune Editor Nancy Conway says Americans do not want the mainstream media printing rumors. "We lose credibility; we have to print what we can verify.

"Edwards held himself up for the office of the presidency, so he has to expect that there is no such thing as privacy for that kind of candidate," Conway adds.

In addition, Conway says, "We elect a decision-maker to the presidency. That is why the quality of a candidate's decisions are pertinent.

"Newspapers are less than honorable if they deal in rumor and innuendo," she says.

The Tribune's Government editor, Dan Harrie, explains, "The media self-psychoanalysis continues about why the mainstream media missed the story of John Edwards' affair. But there's a reason the transition from tabloid cover to mainstream media does not happen with the same hyper-warp speed that occurs with Internet blogs and, increasingly, with cable television. It's called verification."

Harrie says, "The practice of verification distinguishes the mainstream media from other 'news sources.' Published information is tied to documents or reliable human sources that, usually, can be independently scrutinized by others.

"For the most part, rumor and innuendo are kept out of the news pages. And that's a good thing, serving as a protection for the reputations of innocent people and the credibility of the press," Harrie adds.

I could not have said it better.

The Reader Advocate's phone number is (801) 257-8782. Write to the Reader Advocate, The Salt Lake Tribune, 90 S. 400 West, Suite 700, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101. E-mail: reader.advocate@sltrib.com.

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