It's true, many of the problems Sabine Hossenfelder cited about science news apply just as well to news about any topic. But is the news categorically "bad"? N

It's true, many of the problems Sabine Hossenfelder cited about science news apply just as well to news about any topic. But is the news categorically "bad"? No. Certainly there are awful news outlets, terrible journalists, stories which never get the treatment they deserve, and a downward spiral of sensationalism and disinformation. But journalism still serves a purpose. Someone can still read news articles about topics which they aren't expert in and still be reasonably informed about the basics of whatever is going on with those topics. Are things going to get oversimplified, improperly cited, or have background material glossed over or omitted? sure, but one simply can't write academic papers in a newspaper and expect the general public to spend the time and effort to read them. There ARE some long form news outlets that take deeper dives, but they have a decidedly academic feel to them, which is fine for audiences who are motivated for that but these just don't fly with regular folks who just want to know what's happening and satisfy some curiosity.