Because otherwise it devolves into an obnoxious game of telephone

Despite all of its flaws, I like Oh No They Didn’t.  It does that wonderful democratic, grass-roots news aggregation thing in a way that hasn’t been duplicated nearly as successfully (Digg aside, which really is not quite the same).  It tends to be a bit juvenile and sensationalist (and also hideous and awful and oh my god do they really need the sparkles and the marquees?), but it’s LiveJournal so some of that can be excused.

What CANNOT be excused is people using it as a source.  By it’s very nature, it is NOT a source.  It aggregates news.  The closest it comes to original content is a variety of random picture posts (often based on something else!) or some member’s encounter with a celebrity or some such.

If it’s absolutely necessary for news to be rehased or “rounded up” in a blog post or what not, at least cite the actual source?  The person that posted to ONTD didn’t put any effort into it other than copying and pasting and maybe adding an obnoxious marquee or sparkle effect.  The actual writer or news organization?  THEY DESERVE THE CREDIT.