As to your questions:

1. I wouldn’t ever try to count the times that a lie is not called out as such. Mainly because I don’t have a supercomputer handy to deal with the calculations.

2. “Could” is the operative word here. “Could” and keep that source talking? “Could” and keep their job? “Could” and have it survive the editing process? What it really boils down to is the management/editors. They’re the ones who have to create that environment. Though it’s a no-brainer to call it a “should” from an outside perspective, things have to change before it’s so simple inside the business.

3. As the line goes: early and often.

4. Once. It was a story on a racist club owner who used to try to corral anyone who wasn’t white into the back room and made frequent use of an entry dress code that changed depending on the complexion in question. I used the word “claimed” by most of his quotes, and presented the contradicting evidence immediately after, which included police reports, witness/victim accounts and video of him actually saying “n—er music goes in the back.” Why did I do it? Because he was in the wrong (read: a racist jackass) and his patrons might be interested to know where their money was going. That story never ended up getting published. Why did they do that? They determined that the evidence I had gathered was insufficient to warrant publishing what they referred to as “an accusation.” That was about 5 years ago now.

What should we be expected to do? Get it in whenever possible and do all we can to make eds and publishers recognize that this is the job they signed up for.