And it's hard to sell that he didn't know he wasn't shot down, especially after he had been informed of his inaccuracy multiple times and kept repeating it anyway.
I agree that as a journalist he should have gotten the details right, I’m just saying that the current portrayal that the whole story is completely made up isn’t accurate either- the helicopter he was in did come under fire, was struck by small arms fire, and did land shortly after, although not because of the damage incurred by the hostile fire. I don’t think he should get a pass on this, just that we need to be careful with what are facts.