Merchants of Truth: The Business of News and the Fight for Facts

by Jill Abramson

But as we expanded internationally, we started to see a lot more of what was happening in the world. I started to get really pissed off about politics and economic disparity and the environment. I said, ‘There’s all this shit going on, and we aren’t doing anything about it—although we have the ability to do so.’ ” To the Guardian he said, “There was a time in the Nineties when it was all about cocaine and asymmetrical zippers. We did a lot of drugs and went to a lot of parties and had sex with a lot of supermodels. But you realise there’s a whole world out there.” But in making the rather abrupt transition to doing news, important work like developing standards, ethical guidelines, security and safety rules, a fact-checking system, and training for new reporters didn’t happen. The networks and CNN each employed a high-ranking editor to enforce standards and in-house rule books that were given to every employee. And even this did not always prevent mistakes and ethical breaches.