Tim Rutten of the L.A. Times wrote on May 7 that big newspapers' responses to scandals like the Blair case are a testament to the media's credibility
Distressing as they are, all three cases can just as easily — and far more accurately — be made to stand as a lesson in how the speed and implacability of the Fourth Estate's self-correcting mechanisms are unmatched by any other institution in American life.The "three cases" did not include the scandal of Robert Scheer's decades long mendacious career at the L.A. Times that erupted into national prominence only two weeks after Rutten's column appeared.
like other leading newspapers, including this one, [the New York Times] has adopted a far more scrupulous policy on speedily admitting mistakes than prevailed just a few years ago — no matter how senior the reporter who commits the error.Let's see how long it takes Rutten's newspaper to admit the mistakes made in Scheer's most recent column, not to mention all the others.
If Blair, Walski, Cantera or Vigh were doctors, lawyers, securities analysts or corporate executives, we'd all wait years to see their cases resolved. As it is, they're all out on the street, which is where they're more than likely to stay.Robert Scheer joined the L.A. Times in 1976. How many more years will it take until his editors finally catch on?