Iobst cited an NPR piece on one Jestin Coler and concludes that it, “ … doesn’t seem to have worked out very well for Jestin.” Had he actually read the NPR piece, Iobst would have learned that feeding raw meat to the right-wingers is highly profitable. Coler, according to the report, makes from $10,000 to $30,000 a month putting out fake right-wing news.

According to the NPR interview, Coler actually started out to debunk the right-wing echo chambers but found that it was profitable to do fake news that appeals to the ultra-right preconceived notions. For example, his organization put out a fake story that the FBI agent who leaked the story on Clinton e-mails was killed. In 10 days they got 1.6 million hits. He makes money on advertisers who get exposure on his sites. That accounts for the “huge” earnings.

 Apparently liberals are less likely to swallow the fake news. According to Coler, “We’ve tried to do similar things to liberals. It just has never worked, it never takes off. You’ll get debunked within the first two comments and then the whole thing just kind of fizzles out.” Neurologists have found that conservatives operate more often on feelings than logic when compared to liberals. That might account for the difference.

Contrary to what we might want to believe, misinformation that fits into what some people want to believe sells. The problem with fake news is that many people don’t bother to check out the facts if a story fits into what they want to believe. Check the facts and sources. That also goes for some letters to the editor as well.

Norman Hoffmann

Waynesville