Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump (Credit: AP/Andrew Harnik/Reuters/Eduardo Munoz/Photo montage by Salon) For months, readers of the New York Times and other influential mainstream media have heard about how “fake news” soiled 2016’s election. But they haven’t heard how poorly the Times and its peers covered the election, especially in its pivotal final months. Now a major report in the renowned Columbia Journalism Review has presented a detailed analysis showing the most influential mainstream media—with the New York Times as Exhibit A—was as superficial and scandal-obsessed as any online outlet trafficking in political gossip in the 2016 campaign. “We agree that fake news and misinformation are real problems that deserve serious attention.