I think opinion devalues the brand of news. People will share opinion columns from a newspaper on social media, people will begin to associate that source with propaganda (especially if they disagree with the opinion), and then when that source publishes hard news they disagree with, they'll brand it fake news. While newspapers go on and on about how they separate the editorial desk from the news desk, it doesn't matter when they both have the same company's name up at the top.
To some extent, this devalues the brand of all news. I'm sure that the Trump supporters who think The New York Times is fake news also don't read The Wall Street Journal. Even though the Journal has pretty conservative slate opinion columnists (and editorial board), people won't even consider it because they think all mainstream media is fake. (It never tells them what they want to hear; the real world without spin is VERY BORING.)
To some extent, this devalues the brand of all news. I'm sure that the Trump supporters who think The New York Times is fake news also don't read The Wall Street Journal. Even though the Journal has pretty conservative slate opinion columnists (and editorial board), people won't even consider it because they think all mainstream media is fake. (It never tells them what they want to hear; the real world without spin is VERY BORING.)