This was Washington Post columnist Mike Wise tweet yesterday.  After several media outlets passed on this breaking news, Wise admitted the story was false and only did this to prove that media does not check their sources before passing on information. Wise, as a professional reporter, is a trusted source and outlets expect for him to first check his sources and pass on accurate information.  There was a lot of false information passed around yesterday due to this, and Wise is now in trouble.

After seeing his hoax passed on as news, Wise tweeted, “as part of a bit on my show today … I tried to test the accuracy of social media reporting.”

Wise later Tweeted that, “I was right about nobody checking facts or sourcing.”

He has since apologized on his twitter. Washington Post has suspended him for a month.