Cahoots, confusion and a lack of disclosure

If you by chance wonder why the credibility of American newspapers is somewhere south of your waistline, consider:

The lede of an unsigned editorial in the Appeal-Democrat, the Marysville-Yuba paper in California:

One of the smartest things President Bush did to reduce recovery costs in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita was to suspend Davis-Bacon Act rules in the hardest hit states.

And this lede in the Jackson, N.C., Daily News labeled “Our Opinion”:

One of the smartest things President Bush did to reduce recovery costs in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita was to suspend Davis-Bacon Act rules in the hardest hit states.

And this lede in the Kinston, N.C., Free Press:

One of the smartest things President Bush did to reduce recovery costs in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita was to suspend Davis-Bacon Act rules in the hardest hit states.

Aside from none of these papers fixing the hyphenation error, what do they have in common?

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