A gaffe, it is said, is when a politican slips up and tells the truth.

By a similar token, I suppose, “reporting” is what happens when a news organization stops trolling for titillation and/or stops carrying water for their favored politicians, and starts doing their putative job – in this case, “fisking” (although they’d never call it that) a recent letter from Rep. Charlie Rangel that made some iffy claims about his own record:

The New York Times has posted Rep. Charles Rangel’s letter alongside a point-by-point takedown of his arguments. “You really have to read it to believe it,” write Gabriel Sherman and Chris Rovzar. “Now the paper has moved beyond implying that Rangel has done wrong and is currently calling him a liar and a fantasist.”

Will wonders never cease?