Leaving aside the over-the-top response of the Globe (The Blair comparison and the vague allegations from unnamed former colleagues who are still working for less money at a smaller newspaper - axe to grind, perhaps?) this and some other examples of questionable journalistic practices raise an important question: Can we still trust the media?

I think the answer has to be yes. It is up to us as consumers of the media, though, to ensure that reporters, newsreaders, editors and publishers are serving us well. Where in the past we might have trusted the media to have obtained proper, reliable confirmations of their stories, we may have to take that responsibility on ourselves. With the internet, this is easier than it has ever been. When we find something that isn't accurate we should ensure that the media outlet corrects their errors.

For their part, media outlets need to be more open to criticism from the public (or those they report on) and not respond by protecting reporters who are unethical.

The good news is that we are headed in that direction. Two years ago a column in the Toronto Sun revealed that a reporter with another newspaper had invented a story, signed an affidavit detailing his fiction, waited for the affidavit to be filed in court and then reported on the affidavit, using it to bolster his case that Ontario's government was involved in a cover-up. [The reporter in question essentially confirmed that this is what he did.] In the aftermath of that story, the reporter's newspaper refused to discipline him and his colleagues from other media outlets systematically ostracized the Sun Columnist for daring to break ranks.

If this had been revealed today, I am confident that the reporter in question would have been handed a pink slip. Why? Because in the wake of the Jayson Blair scandal, no newsroom wants the perception that they endorse unethical reporting.