The real folks who are to blame, though, are the normies who prefer to read the fluff over more challenging and substantial content. The readers who flock to those publications form the bottom of the pyramid scheme, but they do so willingly. They have all kinds of other articles at their fingertips, and they choose the listicles and boosterism and puff pieces. They might not be interesting enough themselves to prefer more interesting fare. It takes one to know one.