Taking on The New York Times is like challenging the city's mayor; in Gotham, you don't win unless you're a caped crusader with a sidekick in a green bodysuit and red tights. And anyway, they were always on the side of the good guys, so they always won.

I know The Times because I've been a reader and big fan since I was a kid. It's almost always on the right side of my perspective, as in the side I agree with, including on issues about addiction. But I'm bummed out by how it reported a story about Bill de Blasio, the new mayor of New York, and his daughter's struggle with addiction.

"De Blasio's Daughter Reveals Substance Abuse," The Times headline reported on Christmas Eve, followed by this lead: "Days before her father's inauguration, the 19-year-old daughter of Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio disclosed a history of drug and alcohol abuse that his campaign had taken pains to shield throughout a candidacy that relied heavily on the image of a happy and tight-knit family from Brooklyn."

The story described Chiara de Blasio's history of drinking and drug "habits." It suggested the family had politically calculated to cover up the story lest it become a liability on the campaign. The story inferred that somehow her problem just didn't jive with the family's public image. It even questioned the timing of the family's disclosure, on Christmas Eve, as if to suggest that nobody would notice because we were preoccupied by the spirit of the holiday and had our smart phones on airplane mode.

Sorry, but technology has rendered the Star of Bethlehem just another light in the sky of a world overdosing on information that can't wait until tomorrow, much less until after a church service featuring one of the Bible's enduring stories. (Yes, I admit I first caught the de Blasio story when I came out of church and opened my Times' mobile phone app.)

I'm bothered by how my favorite newspaper presented this story.

—To use "reveals" suggests a darkly kept or sinister secret, when, in fact, the family had agreed to sit tight and wait to tell the public out of concern for Chiara's treatment and nascent recovery. "Discloses" is a healthier verb with a positive, encouraging inference.

—Her problem was not "substance abuse" or a "habit," which suggests a behavior or pattern of willful choices, which simply don't apply to people who lose control of their ability to stop using harmful or illegal substances. Hers is an illness that resulted in treatment and now recovery.

—Addiction affects happy and tight-knit families from Brooklyn just like it does fractured families in Queens, inmates at Rikers Island, homeless veterans on a Bronx street corner and multimillion-dollar executives on Wall Street.

—Addiction is not a political liability, especially when it does not involve the candidate or officeholder.

—Recovery is a political asset, especially when politicians and their families are ready to talk about it at the right time from the perspectives of their own experiences.

The de Blasio family's done this, and for the best reason of all. The video released when none of us were supposed to be paying attention included this quote, from Chiara: "I hope that everybody watches the video. I think it speaks for itself."

Actually, it speaks for a lot of us and says what too many of our elected officials refuse to accept. Addiction to alcohol and other drugs is a health issue with deeply personal consequences affecting all taxpayers, voters and constituents. Everybody's stake is the same because recovery transcends those who live it to benefit those who live around it, too. It starts when addicts and alcoholics take personal responsibility for getting well. But it is spread through holistic public health policy championed by leaders with intimate knowledge of the problem and solution. Bill de Blasio knows both, and on New Year's Day, when he's inaugurated, he'll have the biggest bully pulpit of any city in America, with an issue as big as America.

Whatever he and his happy, tight-knit family have to say, I'm counting on my favorite paper to get it right.

William Moyers is the vice president of public affairs and community relations for the Hazelden Foundation and the author of "Broken," his best-selling memoirs. His new book, "Now What? An Insider's Guide to Addiction and Recovery," was published last year. Please send your questions to William Moyers at [email protected]. To find out more about William Moyers and read his past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.