[barryg]

How to win friends and influence people.

First Thompson accuses another campaign of spreading a false rumor, then refuses to back it up with facts.

This is not how you impress the people at home.

[TornadoAlley3]

The media ran the false rumor. They are responsible for reporting the facts, not rumors. The media should have contacted Fred before running the story and the media should have announced it was false after Thompson said it was. They did not. They continued with the false story. The media needs to back their reports up with facts, not spread lies.