The lessons of Manti Te'o: Making sure the great story is a true story

An astute Oklahoman reader named Derek Davis points out that the girlfriend story could've been red flagged had anyone poked around Stanford. The school where Te'o's girlfriend was supposed to have attended is relatively small, and Derek suggests that had one of its students had a car accident, then been battling leukemia, everyone would've known about her.

There were many opportunities for someone to catch this hoax, but no one did.

Truth is, we could've easily fallen into the trap. Notre Dame came to town this past season, of course, so our sports department had every reason to write about the face of the Fighting Irish.

But we didn't. Too many other good stories kept falling into our laps. Had it not been for that, we would be doing the walk of shame with every other outlet that fell for this story.

Thing is, everyone in sports media is dirtied by this.

We need to check our “good story bias” at the door. Instead of looking only for signs that something is a good story, we need to follow up on clues that it isn't. Conflict doesn't derail stories. It enriches them.

We have to go back to basics, too. Every journalist has heard the credo, “If your mother says she loves you, check it out.” Now, we have to live by that. Check birth certificates and death notices. Call an extra source. Ask an uncomfortable question. Do another Google search.

Will we learn those lessons? The evidence isn't hopeful.

On Friday, ESPN reported a possible admission from the man who has been identified as the person behind the girlfriend hoax. Its main source — an unnamed woman who was identified as a church friend of the man.

Everyone in the sports media needs to make a commitment to be better. This hoax hasn't just hurt the reputation of Grantland and The Sporting News and ESPN anyone else who told the story. It has hurts the reputation of the entire sports media.

We've already processed this part of the story — we screwed up, and we must do better.

Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at (405) 475-4125. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok or view her personality page at newsok.com/jennicarlson.