Sounds like the TV series called “Scandal”. Quite possible for it to occur. Part of the problem is that law has not caught up with computer tech. Many people think that a date on a file is non-malleable. Far from it. It is quite easy to move the date. Believe it or not, some people still believe that the “From” on an Email is always the actual sender.
There is another way to ‘cert’ an article or pub other than copyright. It is possible to get it electronically signed which also contains an non modifiable date – since the date will be date of signature. I used to remember the name of a service that created signed tokens (CRC32) of files with date of signature also encrypted in the token. It also contains an encrypted reference to the previous signed token in the current token. It functioned almost like an encrypted block chain.
One way to approach it, pending other solutions, is to ask for the reference to the Wayback machine and its date of capture. The Wayback machine timestamps its internet captures.
NOTE: pissedconsumer.com is on the Wayback Machine, and has been captured quite often. frankfortherald.com has just a few captures, palastinetimes.com doesn’t have any, palastinetoday.com has all of 3 captures over 20 years.. etc.
