, 7 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
One problem with @chucktodd's claim about "accountability" is that much of the media's bad behavior consists in herdlike (or moblike) behavior. So BuzzFeed may experience a modicum of accountability for its bad scoop, but no one else will be accountable for propagating it.
In the Covington case, no one was credited with the scoop, so no one in particular will be blamed for getting it wrong.
When the media tend to act in unison, generalized public distrust is the closest thing there is to accountability. But general distrust does not seem a promising means of inducing the media to improve.
Especially because much of the distrust has a partisan or ideological valence. The BuzzFeed and Covington fiascoes, for instance, obviously reflect anti-Trump bias within the media.
Even if journalists were inclined and able to acknowledge and correct for that bias, it's hard to see how they could do so without heightening distrust among the segment of the population that loathes Trump.
There's no obvious solution to this problem, but it seems clear empty pieties about "accountability" won't cut it.
End of rant.
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