A newspaper or a stenograph?

No, really. This is the question the New York Times' public editor poses to his readers:

I’m looking for reader input on whether and when New York Times news reporters should challenge “facts” that are asserted by newsmakers they write about.

"Do you want us to simply print the press release?," he essentially asks, "or do you want us to check the assertions in them".

I had to make sure it was the Opinion Page this was in, and not the Onion.