>If some percent of stories that make the government look good are misleading / planted / etc, then logically, some percent of those which make them look bad ar

>If some percent of stories that make the government look good are misleading / planted / etc, then logically, some percent of those which make them look bad are likely wrong too. That doesn't follow at all. If the government is actively trying to ensure stories make them look good, they certainly wouldn't want any to make them look bad. They certainly wouldn't be creating/planting/whatever stories to do that unless they were provably false and would be used to advantage later (e.g. "look at this bias reporting!").