Award-winning reporter at Germany’s respected Der Spiegel, and CNN 2014 journalist of the year is forced to admit he MADE UP stories for years

Claas Relotius, 33, was caught out after a colleague raised suspicions

He was found to have falsified 14 of 60 articles that appeared in the magazine

He also wrote for taz, Welt and the Frankfurter Allgemeine's Sunday edition

… Relotius, 33, resigned after admitting to the scam. He had written for the magazine for seven years and won numerous awards for his investigative journalism, including CNN Journalist of the Year in 2014.

Earlier this month, he was named German Reporter of the Year for a story about a young Syrian boy.

The cheating came to light after a colleague who worked with him on a story along the US-Mexican border raised suspicions about some of the details in Relotius's reporting.

The colleague eventually tracked down two alleged sources quoted extensively by Relotius in the article, which was published in November. Both said they had never met Relotius.

Relotius had also lied about seeing a hand-painted sign that read 'Mexicans Keep Out', a subsequent investigation found.

…Relotius told Spiegel he regretted his actions and was deeply ashamed, the magazine said.

'I am sick and I need to get help,' he was quoted as saying.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6512999/Award-winning-reporter-Der-Spiegel-forced-admit-stories-years.html

#FakeNews winning CNN Awards