I'll admit to being a bit snarky, so sorry for that, and you do bring up good points. I don't think anyone can know all the issues and the details of what is correct or not, which I guess leads to one of my shortcuts, good or bad. If I see something, or someone sends me it the first thing I do is check the source. Many times that will tell me if something is even worth reading, like if it is written by David Staples or Lorne Gunter or The Tyee I'm not going to waste much time on it until I see someone reputable comment in a similar vane, then I might go read it. But if, say, Trevor Tombe is mentioned? Ya, that is probably worth a read.
So when I come across a media brand or name I don't recognize, I Google it. I did that before even reading your entire post. When I saw he was a hard Libertarian committed to spreading the word, well, my give-a-#### about his numbers plunged pretty precipitously, since someone else had already debunked these sorts of numbers, and then Smith doubled down a few days ago.
Having some reputable sources you trust can just save a lot of time being misled, and reading fake news disguised as fact. Are my trusted sources right 100% of the time? No, of course not. But you have to go somewhere for info.
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