Atlantic Article on a Crisis in Elite College Sports

[marshwiggle]

... She was described as a stay-at-home mother with three daughters and a son ...

Aw, c'mon, the reporter only lied about the son, so she got it 75% right or 25% wrong. That's a passing grade, isn't it?

What bugs me is that a mistaken intentionally fabricated personal detail leads to cancelling an article that showed that some rich people were rather stupid. So this latter bit of information is lost.

Fixed that. The real question is, how necessary was that detail to get people to read the article? If it wasn't, then there was no need to fabricate it. On the other hand, if the article would have been unremarkable without it, then there's no real story there.

Salaciousness for the sake of getting a story read is for tabloids. (Especially when it's made up.)

[apl68]

Didn't realize when linking to that article that all this was going to happen.  Atlantic sure has a lot of egg on its face over this now.

[Hibush]

Didn't realize when linking to that article that all this was going to happen.  Atlantic sure has a lot of egg on its face over this now.

The Atlantic published both investigative reporting and fiction. She could have written an engaging fictional account as a short story to make the same points, perhaps even better. The Atlantic erred in commissioning an investigative report from a long-time fabulist.