Romenesko

Los Angeles Times
Some journalists argued that rumor about Michelle Obama "ranting and raving against 'whitey'" had gained such wide Internet currency that mainstream news orgs had an obligation to try to confirm or refute it, writes James Rainey. "But for every Web-crawling reader already fully immersed in the controversy, newspapers, radio and television stations avoided spreading the stink bomb to others who still rely on the mainstream media for their news."