OK, I was going to comment here but it seems Adelle et al. have covered it.
Just because I like quotes, I'm just going to post the famous one from Carl Sagan, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence". A confidential source with very convincing secret evidence is not proof. Neither are 1000 such sources.
I know, right? It's literally an antipattern in truthseeking. As if meticulously transcribed hearsay from anonymous high government officials was prestigious journalism about absolute truth rather than, say, a leading cause of truth decay and journalistic malpractice.
OK, I was going to comment here but it seems Adelle et al. have covered it.
Just because I like quotes, I'm just going to post the famous one from Carl Sagan, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence". A confidential source with very convincing secret evidence is not proof. Neither are 1000 such sources.
I know, right? It's literally an antipattern in truthseeking. As if meticulously transcribed hearsay from anonymous high government officials was prestigious journalism about absolute truth rather than, say, a leading cause of truth decay and journalistic malpractice.
Truth doesn’t get you votes. Emotions do.
Exactly. And the more you can yank people's chains the better.