Shame on the Economist magazine

Read this really lousy piece on the Syrian opposition in the Economist: the correspondent of the Economist in Beirut basically writes her pieces from the Hariri press office, it sounds like.  It lacks the basic standards of fair journalism: she just produces uncritically whatever she receives from the Free Syrian Army.  But worst, see this sentence:  "Radical elements among the Alawites in the north-west are said to be contemplating a plan to clear nearby Sunni villages and create a rump state that is easy to defend."  They are "said to be contemplating"?? Who said? The sectarian gangs that you are talking to and who think that `Alawites should be exterminated?  How could the editor in the Economist allow a sentence that has "said to be contemplating" in it?