To begin with, I am not a great lover of the news media. In fact, I believe that if somebody wants to have a good night’s sleep, they should not watch or listen to the news after dinner. And certainly not the eleven o’clock news just before bedtime. It’s just not healthy, because those news outlets are peddling fear or outrage as their primary product.

One example is what I call the “Somebody Sez” news story. Just to give you an example, here are a number of headlines I just gleaned from the Cable News Network (CNN) website tonight:

• Biden could face obstacle getting on Ohio’s ballot, secretary of state’s office says
• Retired judge says statute cited in Trump’s motion raises concerns about NY judge
• Republican lawmaker says Russian propaganda has ‘infected a good chunk’ of GOP base
• Retired US general predicts Israel’s withdrawal won’t prevent an invasion
• Republican strategist says Trump has made a critical mistake in the campaign

CNN apparently relies on an army of “experts” who “say” certain things or “predict” certain outcomes. It is possible that none of these things come true, but they can certainly succeed in riling up the consumers of the news.

Let’s take a more biased news medium, the Salon.Com website. Its readership obviously does not wish Trump well. (Neither do I, for that matter.) But its page today bristles with chatty “experts”:

• “Punk”: Don Winslow on Donald Trump
• “This is a big deal”: Experts say Judge Cannon’s order signals “bad news” for fate of Trump case
• “Things just got very real”: Legal experts say Jack Smith appeal threat “puts Cannon on notice”
• “Trump is running scared”: Legal experts slam “harebrained” scheme to get NY judge to recuse
• Profs: Trump ruling unlocks key evidence
• Experts “very worried” at Cannon’s order

People, it’s not news until it actually happens.

It is possible for editors to avoid this type of rampant supposition. For example, I could find no examples of blabbing experts in the NBC or CBS news sites. Apparently, they are more interested in reporting the news rather than creating it.