I remember the first time I got a small job at a newspaper and wrote my first article. I was proud of it and certain that it would shake things up. One of my heroes was Bob Woodward, the American journalist who broke the ‘Watergate’  story about corruption in the White House. I imagined myself being loved by the people and feared by corrupt politicians and businessmen. The Bob Woodward of Pakistan! When my editor summoned me to his office I was certain he would praise my good work. Instead, I found the opposite.

“What is your source for this information?” he asked. I was stunned. Everybody knew the rumours. It was common knowledge. “You can’t just go around making such claims about people without some very solid evidence! If you are wrong, you will look like a fool and I will look like a fool also!” He was irate. My piece never ran. And a good thing it was, too – I had accused the wrong man.

This taught me a very important lesson about reporting. Sometimes reporters get a little bit caught up in a story. It becomes hard to separate yourself and see the facts objectively once you are sure that you have your man. You actually become part of the story yourself – the hero reporter who exposes corruption.

This is where the editor has a vital job. It is his responsibility to look at the story, judge it based on the sources and the evidence, and decide if it is fit to print. At least, he should. It seems that too often our editors today are falling asleep on the job and letting any Tom, Dick or Harry run whatever wild story they want. We need our editors to please do their job.

Babar Ayaz understands what I am saying. His column for Daily Times yesterday perfectly describes the problem of editors asleep on the job.

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