Quality Reporting

ABC News tells us of "conflicting reports on Arafat's health":

There are more conflicting reports today about the health of Palestinian leader Yassar Arafat. The Palestinian Foreign Minister says Arafat is not getting better, but his spokeswoman says his condition is not deteriorating.

You think he might be, say, stable? (Where do they find these "reporters"?)

I obviously don't know the full story, and certainly won't get it from that type of news story, but I do know this much: When the leading debate seems to be over where you will be buried, having your condition declared medically stable seems a small consolation.