Fool a journalist once, shame on you, fool a journalist again and you have your ticket to media fame and fortune.
The relationship between a journalist and a source is not unlike the courtship between a self conscious girl and the guy in high school who drives a Trans Am and is as old as most of the teachers. The girl is so desperate for attention and can’t believe a guy who isn’t gay is talking to her that she’ll believe anything that guy will say – including that thing about sex in water and not getting pregnant. If it’s not clear, the journalist is the chick.
Journalists by nature are a pretty skeptical bunch. If someone tells a journalist the sky is blue, a good journalist will go outside and look up. But even the best journalists get the wool pulled over their eyes. Be it from a scorned employee, ex-wife, a certain balloon boy family, or a sheriff investigating a certain balloon boy family, from time to time, journalists are suckers and end up being duped.
When someone sets out with the specific intent of “fooling” a journalist it can be difficult to sift through all the smoke and mirrors to see the liar from the thieves. There are certain people journalists are prone not to trust: criminals, politicians celebrities and other journalists – thanks Jayson Blair.
Journalists are just so desperate for the attention from sources, they are willing to listen and swallow anything their sources tell them. When journalists come across these sources they are prepared to sift through technical jargon and “have not not” comments.
But when dealing with the everyday, average Joe, child or victim, journalists have no reason to think the person might be lying. Often it's not until later that hidden motives, an ax to grind or a reality show to pitch come to light, bringing a source's comments into question.
The more elaborate the ruse, the harder it is for a journalist working on a tight deadline to check every aspect of a convoluted story that has been confirmed by multiple sources. Add to the mix authorities, the very people the public pays, lying to the press and journalists are left shaking their fists in fury.
If When a source dupes a journalist, the source can usually make it up to the journalist by giving him an exclusive tidbit of information, a whole 10 minutes before it's released publicly.
When it’s all said and done that’s why journalists like being lied to; because it keeps them sharp and on their toes. Plus life is so much more interesting when people lie. If they didn’t, journalists would be stuck writing follow ups to rotary meetings and bake sales.
