Why we ran the Benazir Bhutto interview

I’m distressed by the article in Parade on Benazir Bhutto. In light of her assassination, that article seemed disrespectful. Why didn’t you print a disclaimer saying why it was running now?
-- Sharon Brown

Ms. Brown makes a point and asks a question that several other readers have raised with us. We did print an abridged editor's note on the front page in Sunday's paper that said Parade's lead story was an exclusive interview with Bhutto and was likely one of the last she granted before her assassination.
But we should have done a better job to explain that the issue of Parade had been printed and distributed to subscribing papers weeks in advance of Bhutto's untimely death. We also should have pointed out that, despite the murder, we believed the story to be relevant because of the answers that Bhutto gave to award-winning author Gail Sheehy, who conducted the interview. It was for that reason that we decided to include this edition of Parade in the Sunday paper.
_ Tad Weber