Passive Voice Is Said To Be Lousy News Style

The Times’ reality-distortion field just keeps getting odder and odder.
Exhibit A is Neil MacFarquhar’s dismal news story yesterday which bore the headline ” Leaders Vent at U.N., but Are Open to Its Terms.”
MacFarquhar makes the bold assertion (or perhaps his editor did) that the Parliament is “open to [the UN’s] terms”, and then studiously spends his entire article failing to present evidence that supports that statement. It’s truly weird stuff, relying on limp wisps of phrases like “outright rejection seemed unlikely” and “ultimately Parliament was expected to follow its past practice.”
I was considering a full Fisking, but it’s not worth it, as events have overtaken the hapless Times: Parliament rejected the resolution today, according to a report bylined by — you guessed it — Mr. MacFarquhar.
His lead?
“In a surprising public display of rejection, the Iraqi Parliament today voted against cooperating with a United Nations Security Council resolution on resuming arms inspections…”