His biggest problem is he appeared to believe the larger-than-life visions of himself that NBC used to promote his broadcasts. He believed his own press, so to speak, and his public persona went straight to his head. Was that why his memory became so foggy?

Do your best to get it right. If you do, great. If you don't, admit you got it wrong, fix it, even if hard, and try harder next time. And we should reward journalists and press outlets that are practicing good, honest journalism.

Now, let us draw the obvious analogy. Newspapers today (and television news) are very much produced as was the Encyclopedia Britannica - by a small group of editors and expert contributors. The Encyclopedia Britannica, you will note, stopped publishing in 2010. Newspapers, no doubt, will not be far behind.

If our country is ever to get out of its current polarized rut, our media habits need to change. People need to get their news from a wide range of sources and go beyond their own echo chambers to get various perspectives on the news. They need news that they can rely on.

I want news I can trust. I know this is not a simple problem. But it starts with journalists using their expertise and authority to accurately describe what is happening.

I really just want news I can trust. Turns out that what we have now are a lot of ethics codes and policies, but very little accountability.