Eli Tan, a young San Francisco-based tech reporter for the New York Times, devoted 2,500 words in the paper’s Sunday edition decrying the spread of right-wing conspiracy theories, now that no one subscribes to the Times or local newspapers anymore: “How Misinformation and Partisan ‘New Media’ Changed a California Town.” The story was heavily based on a “militia” incidence that occurred five years ago.
Tan opened this photo-heavy feature by harking back to the good old days of newspapers and only a few news broadcasts to choose from.
Nightly news broadcasts played on living room televisions. Copies of local newspapers lined doorsteps on Sunday mornings. The town even had two media outlets dedicated to rodeo and horse roping news.
But that version of Oakdale is a thing of the past.
First the nearby newspapers shrank, and hundreds of local…
