Robert Love gives us some historical perspective on non-factual "news." My favorite bit comes from his report of a 1903 Washington Post article on the unreliability of news garnered by remote stringers.
These are just the sub-heads of the story:
"Pope has died 25 times in five years
"Yellowness across the sea
"Americans outstripped in this kind of thing by English and German manufacturers—editors victims because reports are sometimes true—rivalry for news among oriental English dailies."
"Pope has died 25 times in five years
"Yellowness across the sea
"Americans outstripped in this kind of thing by English and German manufacturers—editors victims because reports are sometimes true—rivalry for news among oriental English dailies."
