Questions reporters fail to ask

When a political figure caught making a totally dumb statement is faced with reporters, s/he will inevitably say, "The statement was taken out of context," and reporters invariably let that reponse lie there, like a dead fish. But the obvious question, "Well, then, what does the statement mean in its context?" is never asked.

Similarly, when a governmental agency is found to be doing a terrible job, the response from the agency is inevitably, "The report is flawed" or "The methodology is flawed." (See, for example, the statement at the end of this story.) And the reporters fail to ask the obvious question: "What are the flaws?"

Reporters, in general, seem to lack the ability to think and to analyze. Too many are simply transcribers, and so we end up with pointless "he said/she said" stories, rather than with stories that ask pertinent (and obvious) questions. Irritating.