Speaking Friday at a Quinnipiac University luncheon, CBS Anchor Scott Pelley railed against the Fourth Estate, of which he is admittedly a member at fault, saying that their “house is on fire.” Pelley admitted that on the day of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December, he got basic facts wrong in his haste to be first in reporting new developments. He blamed the media’s “vanity” and “self-conceit” for many of their errors.

Pelley later said, “Democracies succeed or fail based on their journalism.”

Uh oh. …