Hard hitting, investigative reporting -- Not!

The headline of this story is Kerry TV Ad Pins Veterans' Attack Firmly on Bush, but the story says:

Kerry released a television advertisement yesterday blaming President Bush for a campaign by a "front group" of veterans that Mr. Kerry said had smeared his Vietnam record, as he intensified his drive to gain control in a fight that some Democrats said could undermine his campaign for the presidency.

How does that "pin firmly" anything? It's an allegation, nothing more.

But the real story is about Bob Dole's comments yesterday, spun as proof that the Bush Campaign is coordinating these ads.

Is this what the New York Times, America's newspaper of record, has been reduced to, reporting on the content of political ads? It obviously doesn't want to investigate Kerry's history, preferring to take his word for everything, but that leaves it only the role of a Democrat newsletter. How much free political advertising has Kerry received from stories like this in the major print media?