Why we love being lied to

Which came first: the extremist or the extremist media he consumes?

Wait, wait, wait…you’re telling me the guy who once worked for Russian state media, now spews pro-Russian and Iranian propaganda online, including a “debunking” of claims that Hamas used mass rape as a weapon on October 7, and even served as an “election observer” in a “referendum” on annexed regions of Ukraine joining Russia¹ was actually on the Iranian payroll this whole time?

I just don’t know what to believe anymore, man.

Recent revelations about the financial ties of a prominent online news site editor to both Russian and Iranian government media outlets underscore the increasing complexity of misinformation campaigns as the U.S. approaches another critical election cycle. Hacked documents reveal payments from Iranian government-funded Press TV to a writer currently working as a Washington-based editor for Grayzone. This editor, Wyatt Reed, has also…