Journalists learn the importance of covering all the bases they can before the deadline cutoff. You learn the risks of running a single-source story. Even when you’ve talked on record to several people, you’re urged to make one more phone call. Just to make sure.
Sometimes, that’s when the reporter tells an editor, “There’s no story.”
“What do you mean?”
It was simply a rumor. It didn’t happen at all. The problem was fixed long ago. The guy we were going to praise has a serious drinking problem. The person who called in the tip is a crook or simply dishonest. You get the picture.
As for what had seemed to be a hot story, there was just one phone call too many.
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