Chip Reid on Te’o Hoax: ‘We Were All Duped’

By Chris Ariens 

“CBS This Morning” spent 5 minutes of today’s show on the Manti Te’o hoax, revealed by Deadspin late yesterday. CBS was one of the news outlets taken in by the inspirational story of the death of Te’o’s girlfriend who, we now know, never existed. It was all an elaborate hoax that played out on social media. Te’o says he was a victim. So were several news outlets that ate up the emotional tale over many months this Fall, about a relationship that reportedly — reported inaccurately — began two years ago.

“We were all duped,” said Chip Reid, who reported a 3-minute story on January 7, a full 11 days after Notre Dame, where Te’o was star linebacker, learned of the ruse. “It’s pretty stunning that (Notre Dame) knew on Dec. 26 and didn’t make it clear to the world then,” says Reid, who reached out to the school for his story.

This is Deadspin’s biggest story ever with nearly 2.9 million views. Reporters Timothy Burke and Jack Dickey continue making the media rounds exposing their story to another 12 million viewers on the morning shows. Burke was on “Good Morning America” and “Today” while Dickey was featured in the “CBS This Morning” story, after the jump.

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And don’t expect the story to go away anytime soon. Insiders tell us ESPN, for one, is doing the digging it should have done months ago.

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