Although things eventually got sorted out a century ago, no one involved in that debate is around to deal with the new one. So we are destined to argue the point all over again. Editors should expect to hear arguments for taking the easy way out. Newspapers that accept that reasoning would, if they were published in the 15th century, he obliged to report that the Earth is flat. I don't see any alternative here.
Journalism is, after all, dedicated to truth and precision.
Besides, there are some readers out there who know better, and they're not likely to buy the flat-Earth argument. Lest the confusion continue in our own newsrooms, I think editors should decide, right now, to give their staffs some practical guidance. The Inquirer will not, however, contribute to the misinformation. Any story in the Inquirer that discusses the beginning of the new century and millennium will have a paragraph that states the facts. Oppel is scheduled to assume office at the end of the 2000 convention in Washington, so his administration, like Bill Clinton's, will begin in the 20th century and end in the 21st.