Believe it....

Sunni militants take 100 Shi'ite Muslims hostage in Iraq

Iraqi security forces surrounded a central Iraqi village today after Sunni militants took as many as 100 Shi'ite Muslims hostage and threatened to kill the captives if other Shi'ites did not leave town, Iraqi government officials said.

Or not...

Sent to Rescue Shiite Hostages, Iraqi Troops Find None

But as the army battalions arrived in Madaen, they saw streets full of people calmly sipping tea in cafés and going about their business. There were no armed Sunni mobs, no cowering Shiite victims. After hours of careful searches, the soldiers assisted by air surveillance found no evidence of any kidnappings or refugees at all.

By this afternoon, Iraqi army officials were reporting that the crisis in Madaen, which had been narrated in a stream of breathless television reports and news agency stories, was nothing but a tissue of rumors and politically motivated accusations.

This happened despite numerous statements such as the following in the article I linked to on the top:

A resident reached by telephone said the militants had returned early yesterday, shouting through loudspeakers that all Shi'ites must leave or the hostages would be killed.

Later, the resident said, the town appeared calm and there was no sign of insurgents. Other residents said no hostages had been taken. The conflicting accounts could not be reconciled.

So when mutliple witnesses say something does not appear to have happened it is reported as "news" anyway? Or are we to treat "Iraqi government officials" with the same skepticism as "Palestinian Witnesses"?