Fake News: J. Walter Duranty was a correspondent for the NYT and also drew a check from Stalin's NKVD (forerunner of KGB). He wrote that the Soviet's 5 year plans were going smoothly, ignored the forced famine in the Ukraine that killed millions, and ignored Stalin's Great Purge. The SOB was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and his plaque adorns the wall of the NYT.
As far as the MSM goes with respect to Hiss and Duranty, it seems more like an attempt to rewrite history than actual disbelief.