Their U.S.-based correspondents appear to make stuff up. Or at the very least, they fail to back up the central assertions of their news reports. Like this suspect Times UK headline that Drudge is currently hyping:

Americans told to wear masks as swine flu spreads round globe

Here's the reporting, in its entirety, that the Times used to make that rather startling claim:

North of the border, in the US, doctors were advising people worried about the illness to buy painters' masks from DIY stores as a precautionary measure.