That's what I'm getting at, though: I'm glad (and already aware) it's straightforward from a protocol level to implement custom verifiers, but if you're having to dig down into the protocol level to implement them then that doesn't sound like they're actually easier to implement than labelers (which is what Paul's implying above).

I'm assuming the New York Times ain't hand-inserting records into their account's PDS, which means they probably have some kind of UI already in place. I also wouldn't be surprised if people already built their own third-party applications to this effect (sounds like deer.social already allows users to specify their own verifiers, and I'd be entirely unsurprised if they extend that to allowing users to verify each other directly, too - if they haven't already done so). Still, that hardly sounds less difficult than the current labeler situation.