Observatory:

Sometimes I wonder if people understand how organizations like Slice work. They make money by selling their services to client companies, and they attract new business by sending out press releases that become “news.” The more shocking the story, the more PR they get — and, in theory, the more new clients they can reel in.

In this case, Slice got exactly what it hoped for. Its name was attached to one of the biggest stories of the week. But, in the absence of any numbers from Apple, just how believable is the story?

As someone who is forced to read this stuff for a living, watching this particular feeding frenzy is simultaneously frustrating and unsurprising. While the general public’s lack of critical thinking when it comes to the media is slightly understandable, when the media itself is guilty of the inability to look at press releases and see them for what they actually are – simple promotion – it’s particularly aggravating. We can’t expect the consumer to think critically when the media refuses to do so.