Is it possible to spin a fabricated trend story with a local angle out of the fact that Jayson Blair is now a life coach in Northern Virginia? The Washington Post found a way!

THE ANGLE: The DC Suburbs are a "Safe Harbor of Reinvention" for the "Scandal-Tainted." Jayson Blair, Linda Tripp, Reagan-era HUD official Deborah Gore Dean—all retreated to the DC suburbs after their scandals. Not because they were from there, or because the DC suburbs are right next to DC, where they work, but because of the DC suburbs' magical scandal-healing springs that bubble up just over the city line, drawing supplicants desperate for their powers of reinvention, and thirst-quenching.

[Deborah Gore Dean is actually in Georgetown, which is not really a DC "suburb."]

This story also features a quote from instaquote machine Gene Grabowski, who I loved when I was a reporter because he will give you a quote on anything, and never tell you your made-up angle is stupid. He's great!

Don't let us steal the journalistic thunder—Read the whole story at WashingtonPost.com. A real newspaper put real work into it.