ABOVE THE NOISE: Journalism 101: You had to be there - Reporting in the age of the Internet gives rumor and innuendo undeserved credence.

I WAS WOLFING down a hamburger at DFW airport, waiting to board my flight to San Francisco for this year's Macworld Conference & Expo. As often happens, someone noticed my PowerBook G4 and came by my table. "Jeez, that notebook is gorgeous," he said. "It's really too bad about Apple."

I knew what he meant. In the weeks before the event, everyone predicted that this year's Macworld Expo would be the biggest snooze in trade show history. Online rumor sites stated with certainty that there would be nothing new of import at the show. Seemingly reputable outlets, including print magazines, picked up the rumors. By adding unnamed, informed sources, the rumors were recast as …