The letter conflicts with the principle in (A), which gives sufficient conditions for the newspaper to be skeptical. Hanlon’s situation met these conditions, so the newspaper should be skeptical. Yet, the letter argues the opposite—that the newspaper should not be skeptical.

This principle does not apply. (B) discusses testimonial evidence acquired only through an intermediary source, but Hanlon’s evidence was provided directly.

This principle does not apply. We know that Hanlon has been a trusted member of the community, but we don’t know if this newspaper has trusted Hanlon as a source in the past. We also don’t know anything about the newspaper’s reputation.

This principle does not apply to the letter’s argument. The argument in the letter is about the newspaper’s bias, but the principle in (D) would pertain to Hanlon’s actions.

This principle does not apply. (E) gives a principle for determining when a report shouldn’t be published, but the letter isn’t arguing about whether or not the report should have been published. Instead, the letter’s argument is about the newspaper’s bias.