There is something real to this concern, too. The Army did not want to read Seymour Hersh's stories about My Lai. Neither Al Gore nor Haley Barbour wants to see one more story, ever, about their sources of political funds. But there is a difference between knowing you have to act like a prosecutor sometimes and always acting that way. Even prosecutors choose not to prosecute, sometimes proving their respect for the law by closing a file after an investigation.
Surgeons cause problems when they assume that every ailment can be cured by cutting.
Journalists cause problems when they ignore the examples of colleagues who are tough without being bullies and show that toughness partly by restraint. The Lukas example. Three months before journalists shocked the world with news of the death of Diana, many in the business gathered to mourn J. Anthony Lukas, a legendarily thorough reporter for the Baltimore Sun and the New York Times and author of five books. At a memorial service in Manhattan, one well-known writer after another expressed admiration for Lukas's craft. Colin and Joan Diver were portrayed in the book as once idealistic young white liberals who, though consumed with guilt, moved to the white suburbs from their home in a South Boston neighborhood filled with blacks when their exasperation with crime and racial strife became too great.