As a journalist I've seen stuff like this happen. One issue is that journalism is turning into an echo chamber. Media report on issues they've seen elsewhere and then another media reports on what the first one is writing about. The chaining can lead to attribution going missing.
The issue has been discussed amongst journalists in Finland. The current advice is to always try to attribute the originating story, but that can be hard.
Once a story hits it big, most media seem to consider it up for grabs without any attribution. Another big issue is probably cuts in the newsrooms. Original sourcing is harder when you have less people on the floor.
Oh, and Daily Mail are sleazy bastards. I'm not at all surprised that their story contains no attribution whatsoever.
The issue has been discussed amongst journalists in Finland. The current advice is to always try to attribute the originating story, but that can be hard.
Once a story hits it big, most media seem to consider it up for grabs without any attribution. Another big issue is probably cuts in the newsrooms. Original sourcing is harder when you have less people on the floor.
Oh, and Daily Mail are sleazy bastards. I'm not at all surprised that their story contains no attribution whatsoever.