I agree with you but I would point out that the history on this is very clear, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that this is the reality. In 1835 newspapers were just getting started and they reported on “real news” what we would argue is “quality content” today. They sold for what we would say is “expensive”. Then John Hershel comes along and is like: I bet I can sell a bunch of cheap copies of a newspaper if the headlines are flashy enough (even though they’re totally made up). So, he tells people they discovered aliens on the moon and that paper sold over 8,000 copies. Thus, the business model of flashy headlines over quality content was born. I’m not sure if it is reversible, but if we understand the reality- we can work with it.

Thanks for writing this, it’s a great article!