Following is the Public Editor column from Sunday, July 27, 2008:

Two high-profile crime cases in the past couple of weeks caused some readers to wonder: What criteria does The News & Observer use to decide how much coverage to give to murder and mayhem stories?

The stories are the killing of Nancy Cooper, the Cary mother of two young children, and the sentencing of Sidney Lowe II, son of N.C. State University's head basketball coach, on drug and kidnapping charges.