Spike is Best

Conspiracy theory, or conspiracism, is the anti-journalism in which the narrative decides the facts.

It's a paradoxical thing: the conspiracist maintaining an overarching narrative to which he subordinates malformed and isolated facts, doesn't actually build a grand narrative, but he ends up making a narrative that does nothing but continually subordinates and malforms facts as they happen to come along. Which means that all narrative is squandered in the abuse of facts. Because the narrative refuses to change or develop in light of facts, the narrative is always changing (in order to abuse and neglect them).

The conspiracist actually makes the construction of a real narrative and thus clarity impossible. Because he disrespects facts, he also disrespects any sense of narrative (which in journalism is what reconciles seemingly contradictory facts).

Half-truths don't just exist, like they were waiting around to be made into full truths. Half-truths are half-truths precisely because they are truths that are truncated in order to fit a prepared narrative. The worst form of conspiracism is the Qhristian/Qatholic one. It is worst because it abuses the "narrative" of the Gospel. Conspiracism is anti-Gospel, and those that engage in it will be answerable to God.

Conspiracism is both anti-Gospel and anti-journalism. Christians have been made vulnerable to this through sectarianism: they believe that truth is only what they perceive the "mainstream" as suppressing.

People speak of "going down the rabbit hole", and "Deep" this and that, referring to conspiracy theory. The gist is of this elaborate crazy network of people, symbols, things and events making this grand arc, and that normal people just can't deal with such strong truth. It's the same deal with radtrads who think that their going to Mass in the Extraordinary Form is just too much meat and potatoes for the "Novus Ordo" mewlings.

The conspiracist is just too much for the sheeple to handle: that's what the conspiracist loves to imagine about himself. But the actual reality is that the conspiracist doesn't even get on the diving board. The conspiracist doesn't even put on the diving suit, let alone get on the boat.

The boat and the suit and the diving board are all in on it. And everyone swimming in the pool telling those on the deck to come on in, the water's fine, are all sheeple.

Take Vigano for example. He went into hiding and never made himself available to the scrutiny of the McCarrick investigation. After the report was released, he then whined to Raymond Arroyo in a pre-scripted interview that he - who went into hiding - was never contacted by the Vatican investigation.

It is the isolated conscience. Effectually, all roads of conspiracy theory lead to the Lizard People.

Real journalism is when facts decide the narrative. Or as they say, "Let's see where the story leads."

One could say that Jesus gave his blessing to journalists - real journalists - when he said, "He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much"