Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal heralds this Wisconsin scoop on A1 today:

Democrats to End Union Standoff

And the lede was just as definitive [emphasis added]:

Playing a game of political chicken, Democratic senators who fled Wisconsin to stymie restrictions on public-employee unions said Sunday they planned to come back from exile soon, betting that even though their return will allow the bill to pass, the curbs are so unpopular they'll taint the state's Republican governor and legislators.

That report, coupled with the headline claiming it would be Democrats who will “end” the union standoff, clearly indicates the Wisconsin drama will soon end and that Democrats will be the ones to lose in the “game of political chicken.”

The report is telling for a couple reasons. First, Wisconsin Democrats immediately denied it. And second, the Journal repeatedly uses “said” to relay what Wisconsin Democrats told the paper about their plans to supposedly end the standoff, but the Journal doesn't include a single direct quote confirm that. Instead, it relies on paraphrases.

Look again at this section from the lede:

Democratic senators who fled Wisconsin to stymie restrictions on public-employee unions said Sunday they planned to come back from exile soon

So why doesn't the Journal include a single direct quote to confirm that claim?

Murdoch's daily claims it interviewed two Wisconsin Democrats who fled the state in order to make sure Gov. Walker's 'anti-union legislation did not pass. The Journal interviewed two key Democrats but this is the only direct quote included in the article:

“I think we have to realize that there's only so much we can do as a group to make a stand,” Mr. [Bob] Jauch said. “It's really up to the public to be engaged in carrying the torch on this issue.”

The problem is that quote fails to confirm the Journal's front-page headline that Democrats will soon end the union standoff.

I have no idea if the ambiguous Journal article will be proven to be true. But I do know if the paper's going to splash a headline like that on the front page and repeatedly make claims about what Wisconsin Democrats “said,” the paper ought to simply quote the politicians directly and let readers decide, not force them to relay on the interpretations of Journal reporters.