Washington Post columnist Mike Wise had a point he wanted to make about the declining standards of the media. He made that point in the worst way imaginable: By making up a phony “scoop” and posting it on Twitter.
It all started early Monday afternoon, when Wise tweeted that he had been told the NFL would suspend Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for five games.
“Roethlisberger will get five games, I’m told,” Wise tweeted in a short missive that would have been major news in the NFL, if it were true.
About an hour later, Wise revealed that it wasn’t true. He tweeted sarcastically that his source was “a casino employee in Lake Tahoe” (a tasteless joke about the fact that a casino employee in Lake Tahoe has accused Roethlisberger of raping her), and he said on his radio show (which was airing at the same time that he was tweeting) that he made the whole thing up.
His reason, Wise said, was to prove that “anybody will print anything.”
Full story: Washington Post’s Mike Wise Fabricates Story to Prove Point — Back Porch FanHouse