Journalistic worst practices

Bob Garfield: Washington's press is the cabin boy of the political class – do quote me on that

At its worst, the game can allow the vice president of the United States to leak phony intelligence to the New York Times and later refer back to the leak as independent journalistic confirmation, leading to invasion and hundreds of thousands of deaths and a trillion dollars in squandered treasure. 

On the plus side, the Times scooped everyone.