Fake But Accurate

Now it turns out that the heinous George Washington University hate crimes -- which twisted the University into a pretzel of self-loathing and resulted in the FBI being called in -- were (at least in part) perpetrated by the "victim." More from the GW Hatchet.

If ABC News does the same thing, however, then it's journalism, right?

What if the New York Times painted swastikas on the side of its building in order to do a story on the reaction of the typical racist New Yorker? Hate crime or journalism? What if the "journalist" avoids the middleman and just makes up the story?

Here's the problem: When all is said and done, a considerable number of folks won't remember that the GW story wasn't true, that the stories in TNR were made up, and that the Duke Lacrosse players were not guilty of anything.