That's probably how it would be reported today. It's a very, very serious problem. Here, are a my opinions on this issues causations:
1. People are too trusting of the media and do not seem to have the skills or background knowledge (or ability to find the background knowledge) needed to really evaluate what they are dealing with.
2. What's most alarming is that it is often the most educate (by this I mean a lot of degrees as oppose to actually being "educated") who are most ignorant and gullible in this regard.
3. For many people (especially those mentioned in #2) it is a matter of their desire to feel good about themselves via feeling badly. You can never underestimate how much people will brainwash themselves in order to feel better about themselves, or just in general (note: sometimes people enjoy feeling badly.)
4. Reporters need to go to “journalism school.” Imagine if they just hired a good writer/researcher with understanding of the ethical and legal issues. Imagine if he actually had a strong and broad education that allowed him to have some understanding of what he was looking at. It would be horrible, they might actually get a reporter that reported on what was going on. OMG!
5. They are also practically free from scrutiny. They extend their “journalistic rights”granted to them far beyond their legal limits and protect their own to a reckless and irresponsible degree.
6. Public Journalism! This is frightening stuff.


Adam L