Cultivating a culture of contention is an ethical breach I believe should make this list. Would there be a need for Politifact if journalists were doing their homework and following up interview questions with facts that refuted distortions and factual errors uttered by elected officials and candidates? Shouldn't media BE the fact-checkers that Politifact was created to be? It seems apparent that either journalists are in such a rush to run with quotes of any variety from a newsmaker's mouth that they parrot most anything and unwittingly become the purveyors of public putrescence or they willingly engage in cultivating a culture of contention that creates the caustic political environment the electorate complains about each campaign cycle.

Is it a worthwhile idea for a media platform to emerge that seeks to interview every candidate on his or her true understanding of the political opposition's platforms and policies, and then rate that candidate accordingly? Such a standardized practice would seek to get every candidate and incumbent on record expressing their knowledge of their opposition's actual position, as reviewed and graded by that opposition.