Much has been made of The Denver Post’s hedge-fund owner’s strategy of sucking profit from the enterprise while sending it into a death spiral with staff cuts that undermine the core journalistic mission of newspaper.

But everyone who tracks The Post knows that the paper’s problems run much deeper than Alden Global, its owner.

The core subscriber base of The Post’s print edition, which is still a major revenue source for big city dailies, is getting older and dying–while younger people don’t want to pay for journalism at all–online and certainly not in print.

Ironically, the newspaper’s precarious financial condition is undoubtedly the major reason its accepting fake news advertisements that brazenly aim to manipulate the loyal audience that continues to love and cherish the newspaper: old people.

Since March, I’ve tracked some of the fake-news ads that run in the Post’s print edition. To me, they’re shocking, funny, and heart-breaking, especially because I’ve seen them work on my very own mom.

I’m sure they’re hated by the fine journalists who work at The Post, but that doesn’t make the ads, often with fake bylines and disclaimers too tiny for the eyes of many oldsters, any less disgraceful.

Tuesday’s ad, for example, was headlined:

“New arthritis pain killer works on contact and numbs pain in minutes.”

“David Watson Associated Health Press” was the journalist-ish name atop the article. A Google search for this person revealed ads in newspapers across the country, including one with his name on it from the St. Louis Post Dispatch, which surely has the same audience problem as The Denver Post. The title of the St. Louis Post ad: “New Numbing Drug Relieves Crippling Arthritis Without Pills or Needles.” (A previous ad on a similar topic had “Robert Ward, Associated Health Press, as the author).

To its credit, The Post labels the ads as advertisements, but the warning is too small and does not get the newspaper off the hook for promoting the same fake news it purports to hate.

The ads undermine The Denver Post’s most valuable asset, which is its credibility as a trusted news source.

Here’s some other sample headlines of ads printed since March 13 in The Denver Post:

New pill reverses memory loss in amazing way. Subhead: Developed by Israeli doctor. Study shows key ingredient reverses years of mental decline and may also prevent dementia (July 23).

Pills may replace diapers and padded underwear at stores. Subhead: Clinical studies show new pill may be effective enough to replace diapers for bladder control. Initial users show dramatic reduction in trips to the bathroom, embarrassing leaks and nighttime urgency (July 18).

Why haven’t senior homeowners been told these facts? Subhead: Keep reading if you own a home in the US and were born before 1955 (July 7).

New drug numbs arthritis pain exactly where it hurts (June 18).

America is hungry for Martha Stewart’s new 30 minute dinner kits (April 30).

New non pill sex cream for men gets amazing results. Subhead: Recent warnings on sex drugs could lead to the creation of an amazing no-pill option. Key ingredients activate sensation pathways triggering erections and arousal.

New prostate pill reduces urge to pee especially during the night.

Adult diapers may no longer be needed thanks to amazing new pill (March 15).

Pill used in Germany for 53 years relieves joint pain in 7 days without side effects. Subhead: Now available in the US without a prescription! By JK Roberts, interactive news media. (March 14).

Americans report improvements in memory, concentration, and thinking power. By Daniel Ward as health press (March 16).

I don’t mean to hit The Denver Post when its down, but the victims of these ads deserve to know that none of this is news that’s been vetted by their trusted Denver Post. The deception is probably working. Otherwise these ads would have stopped months ago.

More Ads:

It’s the kind of conservative Facebook post you might roll your eyes at and move on, except it was posted just before last week’s murder of five staffers at a Maryland newspaper.

“Look at this….!!!” wrote the Montrose County (southern Colorado) Republican Party on its Facebook page, referring to a meme showing two editions of the Wall Street Journal with two different headlines about the same story.

“Same exact newspaper, same exact date, sold in different areas depending on the level of political parties in that area,” states the meme (on your right). “This is a clear example of the media training your brain people. Open your eyes before it’s too late.” [emphasis added]

Except it’s not the “media training your brain people.”

As explained by the nonpartisan fact checker Snopes, newspapers print different editions at different times during the day, and sometimes the headlines and content changes as stories develop:

This image was passed around on the Internet accompanied by the claim that the Wall Street Journal had deliberately published one headline, “Trump Softens His Tone,” in a pro-Trump market area in an attempt to sway readers away from the the GOP nominee, and the other headline, “Trump Talks Tough on Wall,” in a non-Trump market area to bolster support for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

However, these opposing headline editions were not distributed to different political or geographic markets, nor were they intended to influence voters.

This picture shows two editions of the Wall Street Journal published at different times of the day. The paper on the left came off the press early in the day, while the paper on the right was produced later in the day. Print newspapers sometimes undergo revisions throughout their daily runs and typically employ marks to distinguish the various editions — in this case the differing WSJ editions are distinguishable by the number of stars displayed in the masthead:

You hope that the Montrose Republicans remove the WSJ meme from their website, and I’ve asked them to do so. No response.

In any case, they’re a Colorado example of a problem that’s obviously stoked by conservatives across the country, starting with Trump and his “fake news” propaganda.

They’re not only trashing the profession of journalism, which is bad enough given how much we need reporters to hold Trump and every other politician accountable.

But they’re also putting working-stiff journalists at risk. I’m not going to blame the deaths at the Capital newspaper in Maryland on the rhetoric of conservatives. But it creates a hostile climate for journalists, to be sure, which is not deserved or supported by the conservatives who are doing the attacking.

And, again,  it de-legitimizes the honorable profession of journalism.

Take Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner, who said last month the media wants conservatives to “fail.” His evidence for this? Zippo.

Gardner has also said, without evidence, that the “press” is biased against conservatives like him. And he blamed the media for Mitt Romney’s loss to Obama in 2012.

If you watch FOX News or follow politics at all, you know that evidence-free news-media bashing plays a leading role in the Republican playbook, going back way before Trump.

So you wonder what conservatives have to say to the journalists in Maryland, like the Capitol newspaper’s website editor, who defended his besieged profession after the shooting last week. The Washington Post reported last week:

Jimmy DeButts, an editor for the [Maryland newspaper’s] website, published a tribute on Twitter about the craft of his fellow journalists, with a nod to the struggles of many local newspapers to continue working under tough economic conditions.

“There are no 40 hour weeks, no big paydays — just a passion for telling stories from our community,” DeButts tweeted. “We keep doing more with less. We find ways to cover high school sports, breaking news, tax hikes, school budgets & local entertainment.”

DeButts added: “We are there in times of tragedy. We do our best to share the stories of people, those who make our community better. Please understand, we do all this to serve our community.”

Maybe the Montrose Republicans, Trump, Gardner, and other conservatives think they’ll maintain power by undermining journalism.

I’m hoping journalism–and our country–prevails, and I read about Trump’s and Gardner’s demise in the newspaper.