Jesus Resigned for Their Sins

What would Jesus do if he were a newspaper publisher and his reporters were taking cash from the Bush administration to produce propaganda?

He'd resign, let the reporters off scot-free, and declare the rules against such payments too ambiguous to hold the reporters responsible.

At least that's what he'd do if he were Jesus Diaz Jr, publisher of the Miami Herald and the Spanish-language El Nuevo Herald. According to this story in the New York Times, Diaz originally fired two reporters and ended his papers' relationship with a freelancer when he discovered that they accepted money to produce "commentary" on the anti-Castro Radio and TV Marti­.

But in a show of infinite compassion, he reinstated all of them and blamed himself for "losing control of his newsroom." He also announced that six other reporters who accepted payments would not be disciplined.

Apparently, El Nuevo Herald already tilts to the anti-Castro line. So when Dias fired the reporters for promoting the same position, Cuban-American readers in Miami called it a double standard and demanded that Dias resign. Naturally, Jesus complied, suffering alone for the sins of the many.

So, we now we know what Jesus would do. But what about his successor? New publisher David Landsberg indicated he would take a hard line against reporters taking payments. “We’re passionate down here,” he explained. “People want to do the right thing for their people and their company.”