Absolutely, spot on. These publishers aren't just letting anyone post. If you actually check, the writers are legit experts in their fields.

Take a look at the authors and their LinkedIn profiles—they’ve been covering these topics for years

Which of these authors have LinkedIn profiles documenting their employment history?

For the CNN Underscored Money example, none of the writers or editors on the site work for CNN. They're all contractors who work for Marketplace, an affiliate marketing company. The site is hosted on completely separate infrastructure from CNN Underscored, just skinned to look similar to it. They even have a different privacy policy just for CNN Underscored Money. If CNN had major oversight or control of the content on CNN Underscored Money, you would think they would host it themselves rather than allowing an affiliate marketing company to independently operate the category.

> They're all contractors who work for Marketplace ... The site is hosted on completely separate infrastructure from CNN Underscored, just skinned to look similar to it. They even have a different privacy policy just for CNN Underscored Money.

But those things have nothing to do with whether or not CNN has involvement and oversight over the CNN underscored content.

I have no idea myself, but you certainly can't infer it from irrelevant facts.