"If the press passes on a breathless press release that turns out to be false, they just point the finger at somebody else, but in the meantime, they've driven traffic to whatever organization they're working for."
I think this is overwhelmingly the toughest problem to solve here for any mainstream rag. Take the Sydney newspaper mentioned in the article for example. If their competitors publish the more dramatic version of the story replete with the sensationalist headline while the Sydney Morning Herald in an attempt to maintain some semblance of journalistic integrity don't, guess which papers the public are going to buy. It's obvious where the incentive lies.
Unfortunately the reality is the public isn't going to change as it is in human nature to pay attention to the more "surprising" news (Tiger! in caveman days). So if the public isn't going to change and the market rewards yellow journalism what's left? Regulation? I don't know.
I think this is overwhelmingly the toughest problem to solve here for any mainstream rag. Take the Sydney newspaper mentioned in the article for example. If their competitors publish the more dramatic version of the story replete with the sensationalist headline while the Sydney Morning Herald in an attempt to maintain some semblance of journalistic integrity don't, guess which papers the public are going to buy. It's obvious where the incentive lies.
Unfortunately the reality is the public isn't going to change as it is in human nature to pay attention to the more "surprising" news (Tiger! in caveman days). So if the public isn't going to change and the market rewards yellow journalism what's left? Regulation? I don't know.