AS public editor, I begin the New Year with a growing appreciation for the challenge The New York Times faces in maintaining its leadership in American journalism. I want to revisit five issues here, all requiring keen judgment on the part of the paper.

The presidential campaign: For Times journalists and their peers elsewhere, this quadrennial event is an adrenaline rush that requires sober oversight by senior editors to ensure that balance, fairness and accuracy survive the scramble to compete.

In a Dec. 4 column, I wrote about journalists’ reflex to impose their own narrative on a race, a dynamic that can eclipse what candidates are actually saying. Well, as last week’s Iowa caucuses demonstrated, the Republican nomination contest steadfastly resists any coherent narrative.

Early in the campaign, The Times decided to remain low key in its coverage of Ron Paul, the libertarian Texas congressman, and Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator. Their strong showings on Tuesday, following the serial derailments of other contenders, showed just how hard it is for the paper to read the plotline of this contest.