Make it up, it sounds better

Really interesting take in Amy Langfield's blog about all the reporting fabrication scandals of the past few years. She manages to boil down all the scandals from Boston Globe columnist Pat Smith to Jayson Blair with a few words:

I can tell you that in every newsroom I've worked in - sometimes as soon as the first day -- you start to figure out which reporters and editors play loose with the facts. And it tends to be common knowledge among the reporters, desk editors, copy editors and even the photographers... As for USA Today, if it's like most other newsrooms, (and like Jayson Blair and the New York Times) the top brass probably knew Kelley's work needed extra scrutiny.