ABC News and parent company Disney sold the only thing that money can't buy in this country — credibility.

With the recent announcement of a $15 million settlement with President-elect Donald J. Trump over a flimsy defamation lawsuit, Disney undercut news organizations and reporters everywhere at a perilous time in American journalism.

Trump's claim arose from an interview by pseudo-journalist George Stephanopoulos during which he stated Trump had been found liable for “raping” writer E. Jean Carroll, when in fact the jury found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation.

It was an understandable mistake, given confusion surrounding the case. But unfortunately mistakes happen in the news business, which I can attest to after having spent nearly 40 years as a newspaper reporter and editor.

The appropriate response is to immediately correct the error, apologize and move on. That's what responsible news organizations do.

And normal public figures who are usually immune from defamation — especially politicians running for the highest offices — usually demand a correction and move on.

Of course, one can make a reasonable argument that there's nothing normal about Trump's approach to politics. Indeed, one could even argue it's impossible to defame someone accused of all sorts of crimes and is a convicted felon.

But all of that is beside the point.

The real mistake ABC News made was hiring Stephanopoulos in the first place. He never was a real journalist, but a past political operative for the Democratic Party.

Yet, ABC persisted in presenting him as a “reformed” and objective journalist, even after he had to apologize for failing to disclose numerous contributions to the Clinton Foundation. ABC at the time called it “an honest mistake.”

Stephanopoulos tried very hard to portray himself as a real journalist and he succeeded most of the time. But his liberal bias slipped through on occasion, and this time he tripped on it.

The fact that Disney took the highly unusual action of settling just before depositions were taken suggests ABC’s lawyers were worried about what may be revealed in sworn testimony by Stephanopoulos.

Trump's lawyers were certain to explore every aspect of Stephanopoulos’ conversations with other ABC journalists, executives and friends that might prove embarrassing and show real bias or even malice.

Instead, Disney covered its tracks for a paltry $15 million, handing Trump a rare and undeserved “win” against the mainstream media.

It wasn't always this way. As an investigative reporter for The Kansas City Star — which at the time was owned by Disney — I was sued for libel over a series of stories examining the fundraising activities of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, which is headquartered in Kansas City.

The plaintiff repeatedly lost his case, but appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it was essentially dismissed. Editors never let me forget that Disney spent about $1 million successfully defending me and the newspaper, and I was eternally grateful.

But my stories were bulletproof, provably true and objectively reported. The question of settling never arose.

Sadly, things have changed in the news “business” and money is now more important than integrity and credibility.

Perhaps it's time for Disney, which really is an entertainment company, to get out of the news business if it no longer has the stomach to defend itself against spurious lawsuits.

Real broadcast journalists such as ABC anchor David Muir also might want to rethink whether his network can legitimately claim to be America's most trusted news source.

Trust must be earned. And credibility should never be sold.

— Bill Dalton is a former reporter and editor for The Kansas City Star and worked at several Michigan newspapers, including The Grand Rapids Press.