The @nytimes eds trying to claim that the medium (a podcast) played a part in their failure to verify their journalism is a garbage excuse that is insulting to the many, many long-form audio journalists who apply rigorous reporting, verification and fact-checking to their work.

Audio storytelling is not inherently less journalistic or rigorous. Deciding to prioritize a good story over reporting ethics because you're chasing podcast charts and trying to compete with entertainment-style shows that aren't journalism is a choice. It isn't the medium's fault

What certainly COULD play a part is if you treat audio like the poor cousin to "real" text-based journalism and expect it to meet the same journalistic standards with half the editorial resources.

This American Life learned the hard way about trusting fabulous one-source stories years ago and has, rightly, employed professional fact-checkers ever since. There is nothing stopping every podcast from doing the same if they want to do serious journalism.

(Or at least applying the same rigorous editorial and verification standards to audio work - and allowing the time for that process - as they do to all non-audio stories)