BEST NEWSPAPER STORY (FICTIONAL)

When ace Tampa Tribune reporter Brad Smith lied in the lead of his story about the tow truck industry, he allowed his former employer to join the ranks of the shamed and bowed in American journalism. Smith placed a central character in his tale at the site of where her car was towed. It turned out she was at home watching her kid and not out “club-hopping” that night. Smith, however, was there that night, something he didn’t reveal in the story. The newspaper summarily fired him and spent months investigating his other suspect stories and methods.