This is so weird: 40-50 years ago *EVERY* reporter investigating intuitional actors would print that story: “Our calls were not returned.” “No Comment” “A spokesperson told us that there was no information available at this time.” “Non-denial denial” “Investigations are ongoing”https://twitter.com/binarybits/status/1233423240497967104 …
The institutions of journalism have decayed. Credibility once came from following best practices. Eventually the reputations of the institutions became sufficient to command trust. At that point, they stopped following best practices and simply relied on their reputation.