ouch

I have been following the firestorm over a freelancer's very sloppy "expose" of frats at Chico State in California. I feel bad for the guy. It is a sloppy story, but as a freelancer myself, I can imagine how terrible he must be feeling.

But anyway, he has now sent out an e-mail to friends and other reporters, apologizing for how bad the piece is, but denying he made up sources.

I think reporters used to make up sources all the time. I really do. Now, however, it's virtually impossible to do. The post-Jayson-Blair-climate makes every quote open to serious scrutiny and the Web makes it possible to fact check to a degree never before possible.