I prefer to read the New York Times and other reputable news sources but these reliable news sources are increasingly behind paywalls. I get the reason but is that part of the reason for the dumbing down of people? Or rather the increasingly misinformed public. What can be done about it and how big of an issue is it?

Agree.

Maybe this will at least make the click-baiters pay a tiny bit to find content that they can manipulate???

In my experience, I see many simply prefer to be dumbed down because fact checking and developing a sense for patience and truth seeking skills is too much work for them. Instant gratification is what they're after, sadly.. Mixed up with a high propensity for drama and extraordinary.

Then, there's the topic of audience, does every single person really need to know every kind of 'news' as soon as it occurs, even that which could be hardly relevant to them?

It makes sense that accredited press media should charge for providing reliable, curated unbiased news, and rely on it's prestige to remain untarnished.

I have sometimes worried about that because some great pubs are behind a paywall and not even my wife is willing to pay for them (so I do it for her, and then she loves those pubs).

But PBS is free in America and it gets a tiny fraction of the readers Fox gets. I don't get it.

I don’t follow but I’m very curious what you’re trying to say.

I guess you’re referring to people’s motivated reasoning bias. They have little motivation to check news articles validity if it supports their current world view.

I agree people don’t need to know everything and deeply check the validity of a news article but they should if they are thinking of reposting it.

we need some serious solutions because democracies are put at risk by this as is evident by what’s happened and is happening in the USA

yes I agree to an extent, but just think who is 'we' ?

I think most consider news has to be some sort of entertainment and also an echo chamber.. if it has no drama, no witch hunt, something to alleviate them of their real live's hardship reasons.. which they may be unwilling to see or accept.

Unscrupulous people make money by manipulating actual news into sensationalized content to lure users onto their sites (where there are usually more ads than content). These people will grab a “hot” current story and then change the headline/article to fan the flames. They need to tie-in to the current news to leverage their manipulation. If the current news is all behind paywalls, they might have to shell out a bit of money to get the content they need—or else they run the risk of missing the public rush.

It's similar perhaps to "re-share" seen everywhere on social media.. re- tweet, or re-share a story without adding any value, but perhaps twisting it further from the truth, by adding sometimes silly comments and personal opinions, in the process..

In reality, news happens once, at the source. Whoever gets it first has the story. But because social media, now news agencies are limited in their 'fresh' first hand content, perhaps..

In early internet days I was wildly optimistic for the future; now the "true facts" about anything could be easily accessed by anyone, anywhere in the world. How could this not be a boon to humanity? But it rapidly became apparent that "alternative facts" are also easily accessed by anyone and are often much more palatable than reality. So it seems to me that the foundational issue is a paucity of critical thinking skills. Parents, educatators (and we grandparents, too!) must do a better job.

We refers to democratic nations and citizens who care about ‘truth’.

Exactly!!!

Arguably, that's also debatable now!

A quantum experiment suggests there's no such thing as objective realityBack in 1961, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Eugene Wigner outlined a thought experiment that demonstrated one of the lesser-known paradoxes of quantum mechanics. The experiment shows how the strange nature of the universe allows two observers-say, Wigner and Wigner's friend-to experience different realities. Since then, physicists have used the "Wigner's Friend" thought experiment to explore...www.technologyreview.com

One thing that can be done and is somewhat done is sites like The NY Times aren’t 100% behind the paywall. Some stuff is free and often times they make stuff free to get the word out about things.

I do think the clickbait culture we live in is harmful as it rewards sensationalism over substantive truth. This is a great question!

I totally agree with you. If only there was some easy to apply solution that everyone would adhere to. Oh well, I guess if some democracies come crashing down because of the current fake and misleading crap being spread then we might be forced to deal with it. Or live in or under other types of rule. Survival of the fittest.