After 14 months, the cloud of suspicion over Kate and Gerry McCann has lifted. The British couple are no longer officially considered suspects in the disappearance of their four-year-old daughter Maddy from a holiday complex in Portugal. The police inquiry is shelved. According to a statement from the country's attorney-general there is no evidence linking the parents to any crime.

That may come as little suprise to the British media, which throughout the affair never hesitated to dress up speculation as proof. This was the story that was simply too good to drop: a missing child, good-looking parents and a mystery that defied solution. Basic reporting standards were forgotten in pursuit of attention-grabbing headlines.

Is the media now ready to mend its ways ? Already the McCanns have won an a libel settlement from one leading newspaper group for suggesting that they were to blame for their daughter's death. And last week their fellow British suspect Robert Murat--also cleared by today's ruling--won £600,000 in libel damages for 11 British papers. Trouble is the tabloid media has no collective conscience. Reporters blame editors; editors shift the blame onto their readers readers supposedly clamoring for news when none exists: an explanation but not an excuse. Certainly, a glance at Britain's tabloids suggests no new regard for facts above rumor. The McCanns say they won't be celebrating today's news. Nor should the press.