2/ "You will serve the reader better, and the truth, by expressing the view more clearly—and being plain about it being the writer's view. "Any of these is better: 'Evidence indicates' / 'Evidence suggests' / even 'It became clear.' " "Portrait emerges" has become NYT trademark, Pitchbot-style.

mealy mouthed Johnny Walker Red stuff any Johnny Walker Blue drinker spots out of the gate and knows that only a Blue drinker could ever get a job at the NYT, so what's with all the Red shit where truth used to reside? /rhetorical

How about "I think"? That pretty well says it.