Faking it

In Self's Punishment, Bernhard 'The Reader' Schlink's detective Gerhard Self suggests another category for Scoop! - fake journalists.

"Herr Mischkey, you've been a great help. In case I think of anything else may I give you a call? Here's my card." I felt around in my wallet for the business card with my private address and telephone number in which I pose as freelance journalist Gerhard Selk.

Earlier in the book, the narrator Self remarks

Tietzke, one of the last honest journalists. When the Heidelberger Tageblatt folded he'd got a job with the Rhine Neckar Chronicle by the skin of his teeth, but his status there was tricky.

There seems to be no narrative purpose for the opinion that Tietzke was an exception - a claim reinforced by the suggestion honesty threatened his job security.