I like to read the NYT because of their patented Fake Problem Stories, which read like a middlebrow in-print form of Dateline NBC. All these stories follow the same formula:
- Description of a few people who have serious problems.
- Expansion of the problem, usually involving pseudo-research into the matter.
- Inference that the problem is a rapidly spreading complaint that will affect people in Iowa if they don't watch out.
This week's Fake Problem Story involves internet addiction because there's clinics in Washington state and Peoria, IL, that exist solely to pry people's fingers from the keyboard.