In July, 280 WSJ journalists signed a letter to the publisher that included this:
"Opinion’s lack of fact-checking and transparency, and its apparent disregard for evidence, undermine our readers’ trust and our ability to gain credibility with sources”
The edit page gave the game away tonight when they had Kim Strassel handle such a complex and sensitive story - on deadline, no less.
Interestingly, the WSJ’s unsigned house editorial (not Strassel and not the news side) acknowledges that “Trump went overboard” when he “accused Mr. Biden of enriching himself personally”
Strassel relentlessly hyped the unmasking conspiracy theory for months, then went crickets when the US Attorney assigned to the case determined there was nothing to prosecute
When the NYT eliminated its public editor, it said "our followers on social media and readers have come together to serve as a watchdog, more vigilant than one person could ever be."
They failed to realize how the Times staff would turn on each other.
Public editors like @Sulliview and Clark Hoyt served as a safety valve, giving staff (& readers) a legitimate resource where they could complaints, and expect a disinterested follow-through. Without the public editor, these staff are more likely to wind up at each other's throats
Also, the idea that random people on Twitter are going to extract accountability from a newsroom -- as Arthur Sulzberger Jr said at the time -- was ludicrous in 2017, and it's more so now.