OSNews

The distinction is that editorial/op-ed usually has it's own clearly defined place, and the editorial/op-ed staff is separate and apart from the news reporting staff. That distinction is becoming more and more blurred these days, and it affects the integrity of the news reporting process.

But none of that really applies. There are fundamental differences between OSNews and the sort of news organization you're describing - namely:

One, the writing "staff" of OSNews is effectively one person these days - how would it even be possible for their reporting & editorial staff to be separate in that context (unless Thom were to develop some sort of odd bicameral disorder)?

Two, OSNews has never focused on original reporting - the main focus has always been news aggregation-with-commentary. How can editorial writing be distinct from reporting when there is next-to-no reporting to speak of?



I agree in principle, but again - I don't see how that point applies to Thom's article/editorial/commentary/whatever. The real problem is when news organizations/reporter try to present editorial opinion as factual information - but I don't see any indication that Thom was attempting to do so. Looking at the quote itself:



That's pretty clearly a statement of opinion - it's not prefaced with "some people say," or attributed to un-named sources, etc (the typical signs of "subtle" editorializing). And he's stating a thoroughly-equivocated opinion one to boot. He's talking about a potential indication of a possible eventuality - you can't get much more equivocal than that.