Flawed journalism vs bad journalism, why the distinction matters

Lately, in the wake of big stories such as allegations against Bridget Motsepe in the so-called P100 billion saga, some have accused the media of being complicit in spreading lies simply for reporting on allegations that were circulating in official circles. In an article I wrote earlier, I argued that flawed journalism is often better than no journalism at all because silence in the face of significant allegations involving public figures and national resources would be far more damaging to our democracy.

However, some misconstrued it to suggest was that I was defending bad journalism, or worse, that I was indifferent to its consequences.