CLEVELAND — It’s hard to avoid reporting what a candidate says — especially the nominee of a major political party — even when he or she is lying.

That’s the great advantage of a soapbox, a convention podium or a 30-second ad: The candidate paid for the right to say anything.

This has presented a major problem for the media in a cycle in which the Republican nominee for president shamelessly spouts out-and-out lies and casts insidious aspersions on his rivals, like the notion that Ted Cruz’s father had a role in the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

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Special Coverage: 2016 Republican National Convention





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There’s no good answer for that: It wouldn’t be right for the media to stop broadcasting Donald Trump or printing the things he says. In fact, it would be a tremendous disservice to discerning voters, who ought to be able to weigh what he’s saying against the truth, and determine whether his mendacity matters when they go to the polls.