So now it’s time for a second apology — a sincere one. And an honest inquiry into how the paper continues to get the big stories so wrong.

My view is that top editor Dean Baquet made a disastrous mistake by eliminating the traditional standards of fairness and impartiality in a bid to stop Trump and upend his presidency. Supposedly straight-news stories are corrupted by bias and ambition, with the goal of taking down Trump oozing from every page.

There may also be other reasons why the Times continues to go off track, but that’s why an inquiry is essential. As several media companies did with #MeToo investigations when charges implicated top managers, the Times should hire a law firm or outside adviser to examine what’s wrong with its newsroom.

Because of its prominence, other media organizations would confess their own mistakes, both of omission and commission. When it concerns Trump, what the media don’t report reveals their bias as much as what they do report.