There is no doubt that fake news has become a major problem that can no longer be ignored.
ohn Adams, the first American president to live in the White House, famously remarked: “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
It is hard to know what Adams would have made of President Trump’s press team, seeking a solution to the problem of stubborn and inconvenient facts, by producing “alternative facts”.
We are used to political debates and commentary in the media based on opinion — someone’s analysis of a situation based on their interpretation of the facts.
Allowances can always be made for the known political views of the author.
The latest phenomenon in media reporting though is not based on...