Mudville Gazette reports on a Big Lie: wonders about media fact-checking

Greyhawk at Mudville Gazette has a post about a woman whose tale about a soldier allegedly killed in Iraq turned out to be a huge lie. Read it and then ponder Greyhawk's questions about how this story seems to have gotten throught the media unchecked for facts.

Then consider the continued stories of fake "SEALS" and homeless "Iraq" war veterans and Vietnam war "traumas" - many of them fake and reported as fact. You might even recall this tale:

Do you have any pets that have made an impact on you personally?
I have always had pets in my life and there are a few that I remember very fondly.
When I was serving on a swiftboat in Vietnam, my crewmates and I had a dog we called
VC. We all took care of him, and he stayed with us and loved riding on the swiftboat
deck. I think he provided all of us with a link to home and a few moments of peace and
tranquility during a dangerous time. One day as our swiftboat was heading up a river, a
mine exploded hard under our boat. After picking ourselves up, we discovered VC was MIA. Several minutes of frantic search followed after which we thought we'd lost him. We were relieved when another boat called asking if we were missing a dog. It turns out VC was catapulted from the deck of our boat and landed confused, but unhurt, on the deck of another boat in our patrol.

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Why doesn't the MSM fact check better?

Update: Oh, yes. It was John Kerry telling the tale of the "flying dog."