Manti Te'o and the Bicholim Conflict

Pseudonymously authoritarian Gawker columnist Mobuto Sese Seko today, on journalists passing on what they hear, in the wake of the Manti Te'o "girlfriend hoax” currently making headlines in U.S. sports:

[W]e all have to rely on something we heard. We reach a point where it becomes impractical to seek more references for any given act or statement. We surrender, eventually, to authority. When multiple journalistic outlets repeat a story enough times, re-verifying them just to add a few details for that day's edition becomes a costly waste of time.

You have to play the odds. For reporters covering Te'o, everyone just assumed it had checked out. Same thing with Wikipedia editors and the "Bicholim Conflict”.