Whether or not something is a conspiracy theory has nothing to do with the person or persons advocating it. And the mainstream press is really bad at careful l

Whether or not something is a conspiracy theory has nothing to do with the person or persons advocating it. And the mainstream press is really bad at careful logical analysis. If anything, their desire for sensationalism can easily outweigh their concerns over looking foolish. For example, back in the '80s there was the Satanic daycare abuse scare, and it was absolutely pushed by mainstream news outlets. (That's more of a moral panic than a conspiracy theory, but real conspiracy theories tend to be partisan and I'm trying to avoid that.)