Mr. Kurtz writes a column in Washington Post that is definetely worth reading. washingtonpost.com: Media Notes Extra I just wanted to point out my theory of what is leading all these journalists to fabricate their stories. I'd say that perhaps it is due to competition and ratings that we keep hearing about. With newspapers being run by giant corporations, writers are under ever more pressure to come up with sensational stories, and they better be faster then their competition. So when in a business environment you have managers fudging numbers to meet unrealistic goals, what is a journalist but a peg in a machine? Albeit a slightly different machine, with a slightly different product?