Lies have their own pataphysics. In my mind "fake news" is characterized not so much by its falseness but by the way it plays on people's emotions.
News gathering, on the other hand, means riding a regional jet coach to a flyover state, talking to people you don't know, working for six months on a data project and sometimes putting your life on the line. [1]
The sad thing is that most clicks to The New York Times are for the editorial page where the likes of Ezra Klein, Paul Krugman, David Brooks and Charlie Blow blow it out their ass every day. [2]
[2] It's not whether I agree with them or not but rather that it is all low effort and it sells because it plays to people's emotions. I can see things to agree with or disagree with with Klein's "Abundance Agenda" essay but it's the kind of thing a high-schooler could write as an essay.
News gathering, on the other hand, means riding a regional jet coach to a flyover state, talking to people you don't know, working for six months on a data project and sometimes putting your life on the line. [1]
The sad thing is that most clicks to The New York Times are for the editorial page where the likes of Ezra Klein, Paul Krugman, David Brooks and Charlie Blow blow it out their ass every day. [2]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Bolles
[2] It's not whether I agree with them or not but rather that it is all low effort and it sells because it plays to people's emotions. I can see things to agree with or disagree with with Klein's "Abundance Agenda" essay but it's the kind of thing a high-schooler could write as an essay.