Some people believe the Earth is flat — or so I’ve heard. If Wikipedia is to be believed, they’ve formed a society — the International Flat Earth Research Society. Their work is called a theory. Their history includes antecedents with high-sounding names like Zetitism and practical cosmography.
Flat-earthing, therefore, seems to appropriate the sheen of traditional science, even though it isn’t.
Now, I’d like you to run a thought experiment about journalism and the idea that the earth is flat.