The State, South Carolina’s dominant newspaper, had a collection of (barely printable) emails between Sanford and his honey six months ago, and didn’t publish. Remind me again why we need newspapers? Oh, yeah, I remember: to protect us from stuff we don’t really need to know.
I think it would have been appropriate then (and would have been even more appropriate now) not to publish the texts; given the fact of the affair, there’s nothing else here that justly concerns the public. But for the past week, people have been wondering about Sanford’s whereabouts, and The State had what was at least a very strong hint. The paper decided to keep the secret, and now, when publication serves only the prurient interest, publishes the full text.
If any reader can come up with a justification, no matter how lame, for either half of that decision, I’m all ears.
