henryhenry said:
poynter's take
http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/leadership-management/136198/have-newsrooms-relaxed-standards-sanctions-for-fabrication-and-plagiarism/
There's no "good" or acceptable reason for fabrication.
I remember once attending a dinner in which Rudy Giuliani presented Joe DiMaggio with an award.
The Mayor's press office handed out his prepared text prior to the dinner. But, the Mayor was famous for not using his prepared remarks. He went off script during his speech -- mainly because he was a bigger baseball fan, and was far more knowledgeable about Joe D's career, than the young kid who did the research for the prepared remarks.
The next day, of course, the paper runs a story complete with a quote that was never spoken. It was completely lazy. The reporter likely did not attend the event, or left early.
If that's the case, either don't write about it, or speak to an attendee.
Allowing these instances to go unpunished, or punished in a less severe way, only encourages more of the same behavior.