There has been a question that has lingered in the back of the ethers of my mind, but it has never fully coalesced until now, after reading this article.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20...ond-round/

My question is knowing this is the time of year where teams will routinely and smartly conceal their draft intentions by putting out false or misleading information-also known as smoke-why does the sports media bother to report it?

Admittedly, I am a sucker for this stuff.  Lots of the pre draft speculation adds to the excitement.  Perhaps the media figures people like me reading articles like this are good for clicks.

But is there some sort of consideration (i.e. a bargained for exchange) between the media and the teams that allows greater access in exchange for promoting often false information?

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

The initial report of the Steelers wanting to spend a high draft pick on a running back came from a reporter with the Pittsburg Post Gazette.   I would assume the team would feed him information and he's pretty much have to report it in order to maintain good relations with the team.  Then, when ProfootballTalk writes their story, they are telling the complete truth- all they say is that the Pittsburg Post Gazette is reporting that the Steelers want to spend a high draft pick on a running back.  In this way, the story can be repeated a hundred times by a hundred media outlets, all telling the absolute truth- that there was a report in a Pittsburg paper that the Steelers are going to pick a RB with a high draft pick.  

Spreading a false rumor could have two purposes: to conceal the truth by muddying the waters, or, to have people actually believe the false rumor.  The former is easy, the latter is harder.

Of course, it is entirely possible that the reporter for the Pittsburg paper just made this up on his own.  If you read the Pittsburg Post Gazette article linked in the Profootball Talk article, he doesn't say he has any source for his statement that the Steelers will use a first or second round pick on a RB.  This is what he says: 

"But they want a more dynamic feature back, a player who can put back in the offense a dimension that has been missing since the departure of Le’Veon Bell. They will do that in the draft, most likely in the first round, no later than the second."

He doesn't cite any source, not even the usual unnamed source.

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The initial report of the Steelers wanting to spend a high draft pick on a running back came from a reporter with the Pittsburg Post Gazette.   I would assume the team would feed him information and he's pretty much have to report it in order to maintain good relations with the team.  Then, when ProfootballTalk writes their story, they are telling the complete truth- all they say is that the Pittsburg Post Gazette is reporting that the Steelers want to spend a high draft pick on a running back.  In this way, the story can be repeated a hundred times by a hundred media outlets, all telling the absolute truth- that there was a report in a Pittsburg paper that the Steelers are going to pick a RB with a high draft pick.  

Spreading a false rumor could have two purposes: to conceal the truth by muddying the waters, or, to have people actually believe the false rumor.  The former is easy, the latter is harder.

Of course, it is entirely possible that the reporter for the Pittsburg paper just made this up on his own.  If you read the Pittsburg Post Gazette article linked in the Profootball Talk article, he doesn't say he has any source for his statement that the Steelers will use a first or second round pick on a RB.  This is what he says: 

"But they want a more dynamic feature back, a player who can put back in the offense a dimension that has been missing since the departure of Le’Veon Bell. They will do that in the draft, most likely in the first round, no later than the second."

He doesn't cite any source, not even the usual unnamed source.

Keen observations and insight!

Nevertheless, while technically true there are reports that the Steelers want a RB in the first two rounds, as you observed, there's no sourcing to the underlying subject of these so called reports.

Echoing falsehoods by reporting on the reporting of falsehoods is still functionally spreading the falsehoods.

Not that I care if the Steelers are interested in a RB or not.  Just that the dynamic is a bit curious to me...knowing teams blow smoke this time of year and eagerly reporting on the smoke.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!