Do bylines matter?

The New York Times published an article yesterday that Brett Kavanagh was involved in a bar fight in 1985. It's a straightforward story that quotes the police report as well as a witness named Chris Dudley.

We can decide for ourselves the relevance of a 33-year-old bar fight. But the article is based only on official documents and direct quotes from the principles involved. It would be impossible to refute any of the facts in the story itself.

Still, the article was written by Emily Bazelon, who just a few days ago wrote a separate NYT opinion piece slamming Kavanaugh and urging an FBI investigation into the assault allegations against him (this was back before the FBI actually did opened an investigation).

I happen to be a huge fan of Emily Bazelon, but was she the right person to be assigned to the story about the bar fight? Wasn't there another reporter who hasn't been publicly against Kavanaugh's quest for the Supreme Court?

Then again, given that the article stuck only to the facts, does it matter?

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