Joshua Benton of the Niemen Journalism Lab takes a peek at the words New York Times readers looked up most often this year and sees evidence of a time that's dark and depressing, if not downright desultory. 

The New York Times's various mechanisms for accountability to readers and subjects, include, according to its executive editor, not just the public editor but a managing editor and associate editor designated to watch over standards. They and a deputy managing editor "all spend at least a portion of their time dealing with issues of balance, fairness, accuracy and taste raised by the public," says Bill Keller, quoted August 28th in the debut column of the paper's fourth public editor, Arthur S. Brisbane. "Some cases get passed up to me or Jill [Abramson, managing editor], or to our legal counsel. We publish corrections and editor’s notes, and try hard not to be overly defensive when our work is challenged.

“We make editors and reporters available for online questioning by readers, a feature called ‘Talk to the Newsroom.’ We publish reader letters in several places, and post comments on many of our online stories. We also try to be reasonably accessible to reporters who cover the media for various outlets. I can’t think of many other businesses that are as transparent and forthcoming about owning up to mistakes.”