Neetzam Zimmerman, the former Gawker specialist in viral stories, could not put it more bluntly: “nowadays it’s not important if a story’s real, the only thing that really matters is whether people click on it.” Facts in his eye are over, a relic from the age of the printing press. He continues: “If a person is not sharing a story it is — at its core — not news.” A viral story is the holy grail for publishers. The new measure for many news organizations is virality rather than truth or quality.