SALINGER SYNDROME IN THE BIZZARO WORLD

Back around 1996, Wired magazine coined (or at least helped popularize) the term “Salinger Syndrome” for someone who believes everything he reads on the ‘Net. The term came from Pierre Salinger’s infamous press conference, where he claimed to have found a report on who shot down TWA Flight 800 in 1996 via the ‘Net.

Douglas Brinkley is a historian who seems to have the same syndrome in reverse:

One of the hardest parts of being at a university is constantly telling students anything you read on the Internet is worthless, it’s not factual.

But I just read a transcript of Brinkley. Is that not factual?