Hey, I’m told Big Ben will get somewhere between 3 games and 300. My sources are what’s commonly known in journalistic circles as “imaginary friends” ; you’d figure a respected WaPo veteran columnist like Wise would have more of a legit inside track. Incredibly, it turns out Wise’s source doesn’t actually exist, a scenario Wise first tried to write off as “a test of social media accuracy”, then latter apologized for. In the wake of Wise being lambasted all over the blogosphere for a stunt allegedly designed to see how quickly the above Roethlisberger story would be retweeted, linked, etc. he’s been suspended by the Post for a month. Though I hear it could be for two months. Or 3 weeks.
I feel bad for this story. I used to play poker with Mike when he was in NYC. He’s a good guy with a sense of humor that I think got away from him a bit here.
had Wise come up with a more outlandish claim (ie. 5 games for Big Ben seems believable) that was widely repeated, it might’ve been a more interesting experiment. If the purpose was to expose PFT, perhaps another medium would’ve been a better choice. A month seems harsh… but in a funny way, MIke’s proven that print journalists (at least those from the WaPo) are held to a higher standard.
And, in a sense, they should be. There is an expectation that when Mike Wise (Washington Post) reports something, he has it sourced to the standards of the newspaper. Internet-blogs-on-the-Web, even the ones who perhaps should be considered WaPo’s equals for credibility, are still considered caveat emptor. I’d rather the good websites earn good reputations than have this brushed off, further damaging the credibility of the old-school newspapers.