This is all you ever need to remember when considering the validity of the majority of news sources:
> I soon realized the germ of every TV-news segment is: “Officials say X.” The validity of the story derives from the authority of the source. The expert, such as myself, is on hand to add dimension or clarity. Truth flowed one way: from the official source, through the anchor, past the expert, and onward into the great sea of viewerdom.
1) As an expert, I appear on TV to repeat the Official News Updates
2) I'm there all week, so I'm a regular
3) The experts don't agree at all
4) The experts don't like conspiracy theorists (lightning?)
5) The experts can be conspiracy theorists, too! (Putin!?)
Even his book summary lays out the same trope: CNN Aviation Analyst Jeff Wise sweeps aside the conspiracy theories and misconceptions, then just down below, once they've made the appeal to authority, a radical new hypothesis ought to be considered. Bizarre. A very entertaining read.
> I soon realized the germ of every TV-news segment is: “Officials say X.” The validity of the story derives from the authority of the source. The expert, such as myself, is on hand to add dimension or clarity. Truth flowed one way: from the official source, through the anchor, past the expert, and onward into the great sea of viewerdom.