Fake news is real

The rollout of these fake-news pieces — and really, what else can we call them? — was almost always the same: Political reporters without any ethical qualms about being manipulated became stenographers for politically motivated “officials.” Sometimes their scoops were wholly concocted. Other times, they might contain some sliver of truth to create plausibility. Once the story hit, cable-news hosts would breathlessly report on the report, accepting its veracity without doing any of the legwork. From time to time, outlets might pretend to verify the news themselves (almost surely using the same sources.) For instance, a June 2020 CNN piece — festooned with five bylines — informed us that “a US official familiar with the latest information” was certain that Trump had lied about not being “personally briefed” and claiming the intelligence “wasn’t verified.” (Trump was right.) Outlets then amplify the scoop by closely covering the Democrats’ feigned outrage and calls for investigations. Reporters stalk Republicans down hallways and into elevators demanding they comment on the newest outrage. Favored “analysts” and “experts” put on solemn voices to bemoan the destruction of American norms. And anyone who questions the veracity of the reporting is smeared as a sap for Putin or a partisan shill. At CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, almost no one will show the slightest journalistic skepticism. Then, as the story incrementally loses its impact, or it starts falling apart, as so many do, it will either be walked back or quietly “clarified.”