News consumers and media operatives say people love a good sex scandal, and they’re right, but that doesn’t mean that many of us can’t be a little embarrassed by the level of detail and the resources thrown at the Gen. David Petraeus story.

As a newsroom manager, or even as a beat reporter, you’re always concerned about resources. Time is finite. Like cutbacks in many industries, staff has dwindled in newsrooms from the Northwest Herald to CNN. Every minute you spend on one story is a minute you can’t spend on another.

Not terribly often in local news markets, but occasionally, people want to tell you a so-and-so is sleeping with so-and-so story. It’s one of the quickest ways to end a conversation. Sounds like a personal problem, which unless it affects something larger, it’s a family matter not a news story.