First, the newspaper reported Tuesday about its own suit against Gov. Mike Easley over his office's handling of state government e-mail. Then, there was the story Thursday about a love-addled lawyer allegedly breaking into the office e-mail account of her ex-boyfriend, a high-level Wake County official.

In an increasingly online society, e-mail is our main avenue of communication, and it's inevitable that it becomes yeasty matter for news. Readers took notice of and wondered about both stories.

Let's discuss the ex-lovers' cyber-spat first. This was a juicier story. The paper reported that Raleigh lawyer Christina Medlin tapped into the e-mail account of her former boyfriend, Deputy County Manager Joseph K. Durham, more than 1,400 times over four months. Her lawyer said she was searching for e-mail from other women.

The story laid out in some detail that the two had lived together after Durham legally separated from his wife but before they were divorced, and that Medlin and Durham had broken up.

Readers had two questions: Did we need this level of detail about their personal relationship and why was this tawdry tale about "cyberstalking" on the front page?

"To me, it was a tacky, no-harm/no-foul kind of story. Yes, she was wrong, and, yes, being able to hack into a county government's e-mail account needs looking into by the county government, but it really didn't need to be printed on the front page ... if at all," wrote Delores Hamilton of Cary.

I agree. The story was news because of the questions it raises about the security of the county government computer system and the county official who oversees computer security. But I thought it was a small-bore issue that found its way to the front page more on salaciousness than real consequence. E-mail is how we spy on each other these days, rather than hiring private eyes. As reader Mark Turner said, "I would think our justice system has far bigger fish to fry. Let's take a deep breath, give Ms. Medlin some community service, and move on."

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THE CASE OF THE GOVERNOR'S E-MAIL IS OF REAL CONSEQUENCE. The N&O and nine other news organizations filed suit Monday after reports that Easley's office directed state government information officers to delete their e-mail to and from the governor's office each day. The media plaintiffs want that stopped.

The suit also seeks changes in the governor's policy that leaves it up to state employees whether to delete their electronic correspondence. E-mails are public records just like any other government document, the news organizations contend, and should be preserved for public scrutiny.

Some readers wondered why it's a big deal. E-mail is so huge in volume -- and often so insignificant in content -- that it's unreasonable to ask employees to save all their "junk e-mail," as one reader put it.

"I think you've started rabble-rousing a bit there," Herb Wakeford, a member of the N&O's Community Panel, said last week. Wakeford noted that The N&O's coverage accused the governor of breaking the public records law but never reported exactly what the law says. "It comes across as pretty harsh to me," he said. "If you're going to accuse a high official of a crime, you need to say what the law is. Otherwise, you're being unfair."

Wakeford had a good point, as N&O editors were quick to agree. The paper should report soon (if it hasn't already by the time you see this) the relevant passages of the state public records law as applies to e-mail.

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