It can only be attributable to human error.

If the death-fart of big media has a sound, it must go something like this chastisement of Farnaz Fassihi's email snafu:

Aly Colon, who teaches ethics at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., says the simplest course for the Journal would be to reassign Fassihi elsewhere because her views are now so well documented. Paradoxically, her factual observations would have made a terrific first-person account for publication, Colon says.

That's right: The greatest threat to a reporter in 2004 is that people might find out your opinion of the story you're covering.