You're working under the false assumption they didn't know.
This is Journolist 3.0 in action. They knew. They ran with a specific story. They buried the lede on the actual facts.
Now that they got what they wanted (the vaccines out there) the truth doesn't matter, which means they can actually put the truth out for public consumption because there will never be any recourse, and no one who was part of the cover-up will suffer any consequences for their actions.
You're working under the false assumption they didn't know.
This is Journolist 3.0 in action. They knew. They ran with a specific story. They buried the lede on the actual facts.
Now that they got what they wanted (the vaccines out there) the truth doesn't matter, which means they can actually put the truth out for public consumption because there will never be any recourse, and no one who was part of the cover-up will suffer any consequences for their actions.
Oh I know they knew. Or at least, their bosses knew. I'm sure many of the rank and file churnalism writers are true believers.
When I say 'worse than' I mean 'worse to read', not that they're definitively less competent.
Gotcha. And agreed.