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The American media ecosystem has become saturated with misinformation and noise because the press remains committed to a set of norms that are ill-adapted to the digital age. As I argued here and here, the obsession with “objectivity” in particular has led to an obsession with “balance” or “fairness” that makes it easy for bad-faith actors to get away with pushing falsehoods.
One of the most prominent examples of this is how cable news outlets treat people like Trump White House adviser Kellyanne Conway. The thing about Conway is that she’s a liar. Everyone knows she’s a liar. Yet CNN and MSNBC continue to give her a platform to spread those lies because they see their job as giving government officials — even ones who eschew the truth — a platform. And that’s how bad-faith actors exploit press norms and keep flooding the information space with nonsense.