The New York Times has issued a mea culpa for their “overly cautious” coverage of E. Jean Carroll’s recently published rape allegation against President Trump. Because the allegations were sourced from another outlet, executive editor Dean Baquet explained, the New York Times didn’t feel they needed to immediately cover the widely publicized story so long as they couldn’t obtain new, original reporting.

But the New York Times had it right the first time. On the other hand, New York Magazine, which first published the story, messed it up badly. It couldn’t have made it any more dangerous for the New York Times to cover the story as news.