End the Madness (Editorial)

On Jan. 31, the Wall Street Journal editorial board thought it needed to be explicit with its readers: The Taylor Swift “psyop” is an insane conspiracy theory.

The theory goes something like this: Singer Swift’s romance with Travis Kelce, the tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, is fake. The Super Bowl will be rigged so the Chiefs win. The celebrity couple will announce their engagement, and Swift, acting in her role as a Pentagon “asset,” will then endorse President Joe Biden.

By the time you read this editorial, we’ll know who won the Super Bowl. Maybe it will be the Chiefs, maybe the San Francisco 49ers. But whoever wins, Taylor Swift is not part of the “deep state.”

Here’s the deal: Thirty years ago, people got their news mostly from one of the three TV networks and their daily newspaper, often locally and independently owned and staffed by people who lived in their communities. People’s politics differed but they more or less occupied the same reality.

Now they get their “news” from strangers on the internet, social media and other unreliable sources. And the business model of the internet and social media is to monetize lies, outrage, fear and, now, outright insanity. Why? Because they sell.

This business model has devastated local news, so here we are.

End the madness. Thank you for supporting this local news outlet.