Globe and Mail public editor Sylvia Stead explained that the Globe and Mail published the word "retard" in a report about Ann Coulter's tweet using the word because it was newsworthy.  

A reader had questioned the word's publication in a story given that the word "wasn't allowed in the comments." (See the Globe and Mail's standards for online commenting.)

Stead explained.

"Simply put, it was because the word had news value and was not used gratuitously or as an insult to someone."