Reply #3: Either that, or they report the 'fact' of an accusation

[AZCat]

Wasn't Koppel rationalizing that if someone makes an accusation, regarless of how unfounded, that reporting that accusation is news in and of itself?

It seems to me like this is a recipe for abuse. Example: my neighbor says Bush did a line with him last weekend, and I then call C-Span with this info. It spreads out over all the networks when a blog picks it up and forwards it to the news desks. Remember the Kerry intern non-story? It wasn't absolute fabrication - the intern did actually exist - but there certainly wasn't a basis for a REAL story. But that didn't seem to prevent it from being covered...