Why do journalists mix truth and fiction in their writing?

I believe the ultimate factor that motivates journalists to mix truth and fiction into their writing is the amount of popularity that a certain story will gain from fabricated stories. Some stories that journalists write about might give them a feeling that the story is a little too bland and basic and they feel like they need to add something that is not originally part of the story into it in order to increase the amount of views from the public. In the Mike Barniacle article, it states in the sixth paragraph that “Rarely in my career at Reader's Digest have I seen a piece of work so fabricated, and it was a piece about a kid dying of cancer. I could never read Barnicle with the same attitude.” It’s clear that Barnacle was posting this stuff for views and even has people criticizing him for how badly fabricated his stories are. So when journalists mix truth and fiction in writing, it is almost always for popularity.