The toll of Mike Wise's false tweet on Ben Roethlisberger

Wise, a gifted sports journalist, is one of The Post's franchise players and has a sizable print, online and radio following. Many readers argued that his tweets were misguided but harmless. Others also noted his antics were part of a radio shtick and didn't appear in The Post.

But The Post's internal rules say explicitly that when using social media, "we must remember that Washington Post journalists are always Washington Post journalists."

Further: "Post journalists must recognize that any content associated with them in an online social network is, for practical purposes, the equivalent of what appears beneath their bylines in the newspaper or our Web site."

For journalists operating in today's multimedia world, there's no excuse for a lack of awareness about the risks and responsibilities of social media. It's a topic of endless discussion in the industry and at The Post. The fact that Wise's "experiment" was somewhat premeditated only underscores his bad judgment.

But at its core, what Wise did isn't about social media. It's about fabrication, which is indefensible, even if done in jest. Our business is truth. A journalist's falsehood on Twitter is the same as a falsehood in the paper.

Steve Anderson of Reston, who believes Wise got off easy, wrote that he proved his theory that other media will pass along unverified information. "But at what cost?" he asked.

The cost is in credibility, which increasingly is a news organization's most cherished asset.

Wise was lucky he wasn't sacked. A month seems a light sentence. Perhaps his bosses were swayed by his contrition. In my own discussions with him, his effusive regret seemed heartfelt.

In his radio apology announcing his own suspension, Wise said "Integrity, being right before being first, is the only thing genuine journalists have left in this world." He correctly added that his own "stupid, irresponsible experiment" had "cost me a chunk of my own credibility."

And The Post's.

Andrew Alexander can be reached at 202-334-7582 or at ombudsman@washpost.com. For daily updates, read the Omblog.