Tony and Caleb's reading.

I don't think the problem of the media making up stories is as bad as most people think it is.
I think it occurs yes. But I do not think it occurs at a high frequency.
The biggest problem isn't making up news but sensationalizing it. The media tends to find a way to overblow one aspect of a story and then run it into the ground.
It happens everywhere even in sports media.
Take Terrell Owens. Everytime he did something this season it was blown up and ran into the ground repeatedly.
Now the media isn't making these stories up but they're making them bigger than they have to be.
I think an ombudsmen or a watchdog is a good thing but I think they also need to be looking for sensationalization in addition to someone making up news stories.
I'm not sure on bloggers. The thing is they are generally writing an opinion column rather than a news piece. The line is blurred but if they feel they have any journalistic intergrity then they should stick to the truth. At least the thought of being sued will maybe keep them in line.

Overall I don't think it's that big of a problem. I think we still have responsible journalists out there. I know I'm one. I'm scared to death of being sued out of everything by screwing up.