[jspthrowaway]

That's precisely what we should assume, because it's the facts as presented. Inferring things that don't exist because they benefit the parties in question is a subtle undercurrent that drives the entirety of our fact-unfriendly blogosphere, tabloids, and so on. You sound a little like an apologetic Gawker reporter, here.

We were given the story at face value, we interpret it at face value. We don't make up what could have been nor consider it acceptable to do so.

[brazzy]

You're making something up as well if you assume Atwood intentionally did not contact Gruber beforehand. That is most definitely NOT interpreting the story at face value.