That's the modern propaganda M.O. Lie and then retract and demand praise for retracting.
Go look up Nayirah's testimony where a kuwaiti diplomat's daughter lied about iraqi soldiers killing "incubator babies" and the media, working with government, spread the lies intentionally to start the first iraq war.
Go read about the nonexistent WMDs that the media like the NYT lied about to start the 2nd iraq war.
> The only path forward is to fully hold NYT accountable. Fire the editor and journalist in charge of the story would be a start.
That's not going to anything. The news industry "recycles" journalists/editors like the catholic church recycles pedophile priests.
People should simply be taught what Thomas Jefferson knew. "Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent of this state of misinformation is known only to those who are in situations to confront facts within their knowledge with the lies of the day"
The problem is that people expect truth and facts from the news industry. People should be taught what the news industry is - a propaganda outlet for the elites. And then let the people judge accordingly. The NYTimes will always be a corrupt agenda driven propaganda organization. You can't change that. What you can change are people's understanding of what the NYTimes is.