Journalists must be more self-critical

The Flemish tabloid Het Laatste Nieuws is to pay 600,000 euros in compensation for accusing Patrick Lefevere, the manager of the professional cycling team Quick Step, of encouraging doping in his team in an "absolutely unacceptable" way. The judgement is justified, writes Peter Vandermeersch in the daily De Standaard: "Two and a half years ago I wrote in these pages concerning this affair that 'what colleagues dare to call journalism has nothing more to do with the difficult and nuanced search for the truth'. ... After reading the judgement I find these words have well withstood the test of time. The population's trust in us, the media, has never been lower, and we have only ourselves to blame. If we, the journalists who so much love to chastise other professions, fail to appraise our own work and that of our colleagues with more scrutiny and criticism, then the judges will have to do it for us."

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