If publishers didn’t have special protections under the law for the false and defamatory things that they say, they wouldn’t have a special responsibility to only print the truth.
What’s so strange to me about the state of media in the US is that most people don’t seem to pay for it anymore. Online publishing outlets are largely funded by advertising, which we on HN know is one of the more unsavory monetization strategies out there. Of course it’s going to perverse incentives.
Those complaining about how fake news is these days likely expect a perfect product that they refuse to pay for while simultaneously demanding that they not use the perverse advertising/CTR models that encourages things like clickbait titles. How is that supposed to work? That’s like expecting Facebook to remain free whilst not selling user data.
