Even odds that the Ortegas are a product of these reporters’ imaginations.
I think the Ortegas are real enough. The paper has pictures. I want to know whether or not the reporters put the story together from scratch, or if it was spoon-fed to them by people with an agenda.
All reporters have sources, and we must expect them to go to relevant sources for information. My issue is, did the reporters go to their sources, or did their sources go to them with a pre-cooked tale (Senator Simpson’s unannounced story floating in over the transom), however true the details of the tale might be.
We know most reporters have agendas. Maybe it shouldn’t be that way, but it is. And we must suspect that always has been the case. It is possible, we must admit, for reporters to push their own agenda while pursuing genuine stories, at least part of the time. I would like to find out if this particular story is a result of reporters pushing their own agenda, or not, as the case may be, or if it is a case of two reporters willingly functioning as propaganda tools at the service of other (we must assume compatible) interests.