Reporters covering the circus can’t sleep with elephants: David Von Drehle faults editors in the affair between New York Times reporter Eli Watkins and a federal security aide.

“One after another, as Watkins rocketed up the career ladder, her supervisors failed to dig deeply enough to weigh the damage that could be done to the credibility of all media should her pillow talk be made public. Now that the laundry is aired and the damage is done, some of these same editors are minimizing the impact on media credibility.”