It’s a shame this is what journalism has become.

Where there’s smoke, there’s often fire, but in Thursday’s case, baseless social media speculation defamed Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin.

Unless you’ve avoided the internet today, you likely stumbled across Kiffin’s alleged infidelity with an Alabama booster … or was it Nick Saban’s daughter … that was supposed to lead to his immediate resignation.

Sounds sketchy at best, right?

Rumors of Kiffin’s behavior began circulating early Thursday morning, none confirmed by reliable media outlets — though several reportedly tried. His Wikipedia page was changed several times, laptop trolls appeared from basements and his name started trending nationally by mid-afternoon.

Parody accounts, anti-Crimson Tide fans and even verified media types  — who obviously think very highly of themselves — blasted Kiffin with malicious statements.

It’s difficult to pick out the very ‘best’ and some are NSFW:

Even Daniel Tosh — the comedy sketch extraordinaire — weighed in on the issue as Kiffin’s doppelgänger:

It’s a dark day for college football — and internet media in general — when this kind of story takes up space in a newshole.