You are making a mistake if you consider journalists to be “smart observers”. Just look at science journalism.
Science is even a field where scientists don’t have much to gain by deceiving journalists about the true nature of their scientific findings.
Politics is on the other hand a field where a lot of actors have a lot to gain by getting journalists to write stories that don’t accurately reflect the truth.
You are making a mistake if you consider journalists to be “smart observers”. Just look at science journalism.
Science is even a field where scientists don’t have much to gain by deceiving journalists about the true nature of their scientific findings. Politics is on the other hand a field where a lot of actors have a lot to gain by getting journalists to write stories that don’t accurately reflect the truth.