The cost of zero quality control

CNN Intern Dutifully Resets 'Days Without A Fake News Story' Counter Every Morninghttps://t.co/oVPV7uJwtZ

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) April 26, 2019

According to sources within the cable news network, a recently hired intern at CNN has been tasked with resetting the station's "Days Without A Fake News Story" counter, prominently displayed on the newsroom wall, each and every morning.

The intern, Jacob Lentils, is asked to switch the counter back to "0" after having briefly turned it to "1" in the few fleeting moments before the station inevitably pushes a fake news story to kick off the day.

"One of these days, we'll manage to break our record and get to 2," Lentils said. "That'll be a lot of fun."

Heh. I no longer listen to NPR as reliably as I once did but I will turn them on when I am out running errands or commuting. They occasionally still do interesting and accurate reporting but it is pretty thin epistemic gruel. I no longer listen to learn because they don't have much from which to learn, but it can still be fun entertainment.

Part of the entertainment is to see how long I can go before I hit a news report that does not focus on race victims, women victims, inequality, food, whatever is the hot news of the day, spiritualism (distinct from religion), first world problems, or a blatant misstatement of facts. In other words, how long do I have to wait for a straight news story that is factually accurate, potentially interesting to everyone, and is not reported in a fashion requiring acceptance of postmodernist beliefs.

Perhaps your station is different but in Atlanta it is pretty bleak. One station is owned by the city government and the other by one of the local universities. You might think it should be otherwise but I have travelled between distant cities and not broken the chain of bad reporting.