I would like to add something that the authors of this piece may be too polite or professional to say themselves: the financial pressures within the media industry have made journalism among the most dishonest professions in society.

Of course there are many fantastic scrupulous people working in the media. And there are a handful of outlets that maintain high levels of integrity.

But the median journalist is under enormous pressure to find some sensationalist angle for their stories in order to drive a lot of clicks. They're also under great pressure to finish stories very quickly, which means little or no fact checking.

If they don't go along, they run a high risk of being forced out of their chosen career entirely. Even idealistic people will often cave when faced with such a stark choice.

As a result I regularly hear about journalists behaving very badly. If you ever know something about a topic, you'll find most news stories covering that issue are very misleading.

So it's sad to say, but the media should usually be avoided. And if they can't be avoided, at least treated with deep distrust.