Before social media printed materials were the only source for the dissemination of what is now called fake news.
The anti vaccine movement in the US is an example of how fake news manages to gain a foothold in US culture. The doctor who published findings about vaccines causing autism was eventually debunked on a purely scientific basis.
As it has been said on the stock market chat forums: why allow facts to get in the way of a good story.
The Nasdaq's third tier, the AMEX can be just as bad, and last but not least, the OTC, it seems, are financial venues that reward failure.