Fabrication is one of the most major journalist transgressions, according to the Washington Post newspaper's ombudsman, which on Aug. 31 suspended a journalist for staging a hoax using the social media Twitter service. Popular Washington Post sports columnist Mike Wise has been suspended for a month after knowingly sending a false tweet on Monday, according to the Washington Post ombudsman's weblog.


The action stems from a short scoop to his Twitter followers that said Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who has been suspended for six games by the National Football League after allegations of misconduct, will only have to sit out five games. “Roethlisberger will get five games, I’m told,” Wise tweeted.

Wise later acknowledged it was a hoax and part of his part of a misguided attempt to comment on the lowered standards of accuracy for information shared on social media.

“Integrity, being right before being first, is the only thing genuine journalists have left in this world,” Wise said. “It pains me to say my own stupid, irresponsible experiment, ironically, has cost me a chunk of my own credibility today.”

Read the Washington Post omblog here.