Breaking news coverage is very difficult. The moment when people most desire updates coincides with the moment when a news outlet knows the least on the given topic. One important function media outlets can perform is to keep crazy stories from spreading.

That's an important job but sometimes I wonder if media outlets overreact and go out of their way to deny specifics. After Faisal Shahzad tried to blow up Times Square this spring, some politicians and reporters made a point of saying there was no indication that it was Islamic terrorism or part of an organized plot with the Pakistani Taliban.

Of course, the facts started coming quickly and, when they did, it turned out that religion played a significant role in Shahzad's decision to try and bomb Times Square. It takes time to gather facts that help explain who a terrorist is and what motivated him. We already praised Andrea Elliott's May 15 New York Times story about Shahzad's religious views.

Now that Shahzad has pled guilty to his crimes, she has another fascinating piece with more information. It seems to me that the reporter is comfortable enough reporting on Islam and its adherents that she can easily explain how some adherents can end up on the Shahzad path while others don't. That's called journalism.

In her previous piece, Elliott discussed Shahzad's reaction to the 9/11 terror attacks and his 2006 email complaining of Muslim humiliation around the globe. This piece looks at the time when his curiosity about violence became something more. The July 2007 raid of the Red Mosque in Islamabad, where Shahzad had worshiped, made him believe that he needed to do more in the "global jihad" (more on that term later):

The men sometimes prayed at Lal Masjid, or the Red Mosque, a hotbed for militancy. By the summer of 2007, the mosque had drawn international attention as its cane-wielding students, intent on installing a theocracy, kidnapped Chinese masseuses, raided music stores and took police officers hostage. It is unclear whether Mr. Shahzad was in Pakistan when the government's security forces stormed the mosque in July, but he was "close to individuals who were associated with that event and that mosque," an American administration official said.

If before the siege Mr. Shahzad and Mr. Hussain were on the sidelines of militancy, "they heated up after what happened," said a person familiar with the case. "They realized that more than sympathy was required."

People may be aware that Shahzad was radicalized in the years after he first came to America. But this story shows how much of that occurred within the borders of Pakistan. It gives readers a timeline -- of friendships, discussions and life events. The idea behind the piece seems to be summed up here:

Mr. Shahzad appears to fit a pattern among young Muslims in the United States who have joined militant groups over the last year. In contrast to their predecessors -- the 9/11-era jihadist leaders who framed their movement in religious terms -- Mr. Shahzad and other recent recruits carry the attributes of "foot soldiers," driven less by religious rhetoric than by personal bonds and their sense of obligation to the ummah, or global Muslim community, the American officials said.

"It's much more attached to kinship with other Muslims," a senior administration official said. Mr. Shahzad seemed motivated by the duty he felt toward his fellow Muslims and his loyalty to the friends who trained with him in Waziristan, the official said. In court on Monday, Mr. Shahzad said he had made a "pact" with the Pakistani Taliban that he would attack America.

I sense that this is an important point and distinction but I'm not sure how well I understand it. It seemed to me that the 9/11-era jihadist leaders spoke a great deal about the global Muslim community as well. Still, this is the kind of reporting that adds value to our understanding about the changing nature and shape of Muslim terrorism.

Another issue to raise is the reporter's use of "jihad" and "jihadist" without a modifier. It seems that this could be dangerous considering that jihad is a religious duty for all Muslims. To refer to terrorists as "the jihad leaders" could give the impression that jihad necessarily involves violence and terrorism.

All this to say: breaking news is important but this article provides another example of the good that reporters can do when given some time to research their stories.