Uh, the NY Times is the closest thing we have to an official government newspaper, so I think you're severely mistaken if you think this counts as holding government accountable.
The NY Times convinced a lot of people to support the Iraq war when it ran its poorly fact-checked story fed to its reporter by propagandists funded by the CIA. I remember how profoundly my view of the Iraq situation changed when I read all of that in the paper I trusted at the time.
It's not a question of fallibility. It's a question of how propaganda functions in society. The Times has become a voice for the powerful interests in the US.
Judith Miller's "mistakes" were hugely influential to me because I was naive... similarly I think those who believe this lawsuit means anything are similarly naive.
The NY Times convinced a lot of people to support the Iraq war when it ran its poorly fact-checked story fed to its reporter by propagandists funded by the CIA. I remember how profoundly my view of the Iraq situation changed when I read all of that in the paper I trusted at the time.