I was interviewing for an editing job several years ago at a different newspaper and I was asked which was more important to have in a beat journalist: a good reporter or a good writer. My response that day was I'd rather have a good reporter. Bad writing I can work on -- I can fix it (with varying degrees of effort). But if I've got someone who doesn't know the questions to ask, then I've got more problems -- I've got to keep sending them back to get answers, and eventually people go home for the day and stop answering their phones.

With that in mind, I heartily endorse this story by Steve Hendrix, a Washington Post reporter, entitled: "Why Stevie Can't Spell" -- and he's not talking about his son.