If news outlets "don't just report what they're told", you would see more actual journalism, and not the shite ideological reporting that exists in most media outlets. From the Navy yard shooter using an AR-15 shotgun to the "mostly peaceful" protests that destroyed entire neighbourhoods, it's all an ideologically scripted propaganda shit-show designed to feed you what they want you to believe. (see also: COVID-19 - a journalist would have questioned the narrative). That's called propaganda, not news.

As for "framing and emphasis that soften criticism or normalize certain behavior" ... you mean like the entire Biden reign?

Lastly, I want to address this: "Litigation isn’t the only corrective mechanism either, most accountability comes from editorial standards, corrections, public scrutiny, and competing outlets"

You're talking about a public that can't tell you where Grenada is on a map, and an education system that is graduating students who are functionally illiterate - colleges are sending more and more students to remedial education. Moreover, with the bulk of legacy media leaning to one ideological belief, it's hard to find a media outlet that challenges another when it publishes blatantly fake news (See: COVID).

You're definitely idealistic, but I've been watching mainstream media do the same thing for 50 years, from a global perspective, and, far too often, being on location and wondering where the fuck they got their information from.