Is it a blurb? A cutline?

And what's that byline doing there if this is a blurb? Check out the first sentence that isn't a sentence; it's a label. Was this a mistake or a new online form?

A Kentucky mother's struggle through drug court

Al Tompkins, of Poynter, has a full writeup of a weeklong project by the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader that will, in his words, "consume 18 inside pages, 15 minutes of online multimedia and more than 130 photos." Tompkins explores how the project came together -- it took four years.

Readers question news judgment for centerpiece

Romenesko carried this blurb today:

SacBee readers gripe about prominent play for atheists story
Sacramento Bee
A story about atheists was a recent Bee Metro centerpiece, while a piece about a church gathering got secondary play. "Well, as you might imagine, the juxtaposition caused more than a few Christian readers to complain about how offended they were and ask whether The Bee had lost its way," writes Armando Acuna. "Those who criticize the paper for publishing the atheists' story or for 'taking sides' by making it the centerpiece don't understand what we do."

I'd really like to read more about it, but I clicked over to the newspaper site and was confronted with a request to register. Ten minutes later, confounded by registering when I'd evidently previously registered, a subsequent wait for my forgotten password to be mailed, etc., I'd totally determined to cut and paste the entire story here as a protest against news site registrations, which I detest. Alas, foiled again. Once onto the site (I'm really stubborn), I couldn't find any trace of the story. So now this post is a complaint about online sites that don't carry the full range of news debate with regard to the print edition. So all I can do at this point is refer you to Romenesko, who has other tasty links related to this kind of story available.

Partially trapped? Partially? Trapped is trapped.

NORFOLK — A man operating a steamroller was killed Wednesday afternoon in an accident, police said.

It happened in the 6500 block of Tidewater Drive around 1:45 p.m.

The man was operating the steamroller when it went over a small ledge and tipped on its side, partially trapping the man.

The man was pronounced dead on the way to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.

Story folo raises Big Picture questions

Note the multiple media elements of this folo report on Carol Gotbaum's death at Sky Harbor. There's the main text story with links to other text reports, a source video from the airport, a statement from her family, a collection of witness quotes supplied by the Phoenix police, a still image with cutline material, and a host of "reader" comments that range from the astute to crude, rude and ludicrous. The question with which many editors grapple is which parts of this package should be edited, and to what extent? It brings up a larger issue: what is the goal of having something edited? Literacy? Fairness? Basic intelligence? The avoidance of libel? Public service? Copy editors have a responsibility to protect their publication from looking stupid or doing harm. Does that mean only publication employees -- reporters, editors, producers, etc. -- have the benefit of someone cleaning up their language and double-checking their thought processes? Do they only have that protection when they're reporting in certain genres -- in a "story" form rather than in a blog, for example? Should members of the public have that protection as well -- which means, suddenly, that copy editors are responsible for editing material from people they don't know, have no newsroom ties to, and did not agree to edit when they signed on for the job? We are in the turmoil of genuine upheaval as we transition toward a new journalism: same principles, perhaps, but vastly different modes of expression and accountability. Fascinating.