Reporters on the Job

• Chasing the Da Vinci Story: Journalism, like puzzles, is often filled with dead ends and false starts. On Tuesday, staff writer Peter Ford was impressed by the large and enthusiastic crowd that had gathered at the Notre Dame de l'Assomption church in Paris. The Catholic church website had said a debate on The Da Vinci Code was to take place there at 8:30 p.m. He was a little surprised, as he arrived, to be told that he needed to buy a ticket but offered no objections - especially since he was given a choice between two charities as beneficiaries of the $15 entry fee. But he knew something was wrong when he was handed a program for a play based on a P.G. Wodehouse story. He sought out the parish priest who was horrified to learn that a debate he had once vaguely thought of organizing had been posted on the church website. Peter interviewed the priest, but didn't find any parishioners showing up for the debate. Perhaps like Peter, they were also ushered in to see the P.G. Woodhouse fundraiser.

David Clark Scott
World editor