[oyez]

Now I have never been to Iraq, but I am told (by modern academics) that it is not the literal truth of the story that counts, but whether the story “smells right” or has the right over arching plot

Newspapers and other media are perplexed why their circulation is dropping.

Observation: We have food and drug purity laws to protect what we put into our body but there are no purity laws for what we put into our brains.

[Carry_Okie]

Newspapers and other media are perplexed why their circulation is dropping.

Because you can read whatever message you want to hear for free on the Internet. Hence the balkanization of what constitutes "truth."

IOW it has nothing to do with the integrity of the message. It's about what people want to hear and what they don't want to pay for it.