> people just make shit up and call it news <
And it spreads at the speed of light. Blogger A makes something up just to get hits. Semi-reputable news site B picks the story up, not bothering to vet it.
Then reputable news site C picks the story up, siting site B as the source. This would all actually be funny if the potential for harm wasn’t so great.
You just described the Fake Russian Trump Dossier’s origin..............