Checking it ... not even once
Unfortunately, both newspapers for which I have worked in my career have printed fake letters to the editor, so I can empathize with The New York Times, which just did it (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/22/opinion/22letters.corr.html?_r=1&bl&ex=1230094800&en=03cc697c3c1376e9&ei=5087%0A). A key journalistic principle applies: verify, verify, verify.