NEW YORK — The mainstream media's near-silence [editor: "near?" ha!] about a tabloid report that former presidential candidate John Edwards had an extramarital affair with a campaign worker ended abruptly Friday when the cable news networks immediately pounced on the story, broken by the supermarket tabloid National Enquirer last year but largely [editor: "largely?" ha!] unaddressed by major news organizations until Edwards' admission. Fox News, CNN and MSNBC all ran extensive coverage of the scandal throughout the afternoon, while the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times and the Washington Post immediately posted stories about the controversy on their websites.

...several news executives said their organizations had been pursuing the story but had not yet confirmed enough to run their own piece.

Sam Feist, CNN's political director, said reporters for the cable network had been trying to nail down the allegations since the fall and had been in California and North Carolina in recent weeks working on the story.

... The Los Angeles Times also chased the story but was unable to confirm the details in the Enquirer reports, said Craig Turner, one of the top editors who oversees front page stories for the paper.