That's because it's a really critical media failure -- we're still grappling today with the consequences of invading Iraq. A more recent media failure would be

That's because it's a really critical media failure -- we're still grappling today with the consequences of invading Iraq. A more recent media failure would be the Rolling Stone campus-rape article. You're right – and it's a good point – that there are a lot of trash "news" sites being passed around on facebook that are obviously completely bogus, and no one ever bothers to debunk them. But I don't see it as much more of threat to democracy than the sometimes-right, sometimes-pushing-an-agenda mainstream media we've had since forever. When people rail against facebook (essentially a communication tool) "allowing" these fake news articles to proliferate, what they're essentially saying is people should only be allowed to share with their friends official "truth", as decided by some arbitrary third party. That, to me, seems much scarier and like more of a threat to democracy.