A collapsed Macedonian town pivoted to fake news as its new economy

Evidence

Veles, a city in Macedonia with around forty thousand people, was once known for its delicate porcelain ceramics. By the 2010s, the economy was in ruins, with youth unemployment just under 50 percent. But in 2016, the champagne began to flow at local dance clubs, fueled by an unexpected new industry: fabricating and plagiarizing news articles about the US presidential election. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 480

Categorization

• CANDY: Eyedrop-level fact: the fake-news boomtown in Macedonia.
• XREF: connects to: One small Macedonian town hosted over a hundred pro-Trump fake news websites — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 215