Resolve to Be More Skeptical in '05

If you're looking for a New Year's resolution that does not involve the gym, yoga classes or quitting some nasty-yet-refreshing vice, consider this one: "I resolve to be more skeptical about every story idea I consider in 2005."

And here is your inspiration ? the tale of Alek Komarnitsky, and his allegedly Web-controlled home holiday light display. You might remember numerous stories last month about this Denver-area man, who said he put up a webcam showing his home's light display, which he also said Web surfers could turn on or off via his website.

A few skeptics on Slashdot.org wondered how Komarnitsky could pull that off without frying the circuits in his home. But many professional reporters bought the story, and ran it as a holiday "bright," with no substantial follow-up.

Komarnitsky now details his hoax, and the news media's role in it, on his website. The pages provide a roadmap on how to dupe Web surfers ? and the press.

Let's not forget that the Web is not simply a news publishing medium. People use it to entertain one another ? even to pull practical jokes. Good reporting requires more than picking the most entertaining stories off the Web or the wire. It requires picking up the phone, driving to the scene or taking some other independent step to verify a story's truth before repeating it. Too often reporters let that slide for certain stories under deadline pressure. Here's to resolving to quit doing that in 2005.