It was a hit piece. And you're right; I'm not sure what Politico changed in the body of the story, but they removed the word "Fabricated" from the headline. Interesting.
To his credit, Carson has faced this head on, and addressed it in multiple venues, including a press conference.
The Daily Caller addresses his campaign response pretty well:
http://dailycaller.com/2015/11/06/team-carson-politico-story-is-an-outright-lie/Some may say that this "vetting" is necessary. Yes, sometimes. But making a federal case about one word - "scholarship" - in a book written 25 years ago, about his recollections from the age if 17, is over-the-top "gotcha" journalism.
But I'm sure Politico is going to be running a piece soon about how young, aggressive attorney Hillary Rodham was fired from the staff of the Watergate committee.
And that's the hypocrisy of the left media.