In the top right corner section of the Kansas City Star homepage on Thursday morning is a fake news headline that reads, “Trump Jr. Called a ‘disgrace’ for criticizing London mayor.”

To learn why Trump Jr. might be criticizing the London mayor, the reader has to scroll down the page quite a way to a small item headlined, “5 dead, dozens wounded in ‘sick and depraved terrorist act’ in London.

The real news of the day is the London terror act. The fake news, that is the story ginned up by the AP and regurgitated by the Star to offset any political edge President Trump might gain from the terrorist act, is Trump Jr.’s allegedly disgraceful critique.

What did Junior say to earn the rebuke? He merely quoted the London’s Muslim mayor: “You have to be kidding me?!: Terror attacks are part of living in big city, says London Mayor Sadiq Khan.”

Yes, Khan did say that, but the article dismisses the quote, calling it “months-old.” Months old or not, Khan’s comment was indicative of his high-minded indifference to terror. Indeed, his quote was more newsworthy than Trump Jr.’s response.

Apparently, it was a British member of Parliament, Wes Streeting, who called Trump Jr. “a disgrace.” Streeting is a 34-year-old Labour Party backbencher but, according to Pink News, the 33rd most powerful LGBT politician in the UK.

Real news just happens. A terrorist strikes London. Fake news does not have to be false. It just has to be concocted. An obscure British leftist takes umbrage at the tweet not by the American president but by his son and has the media connections to get his outrage broadcast around the word.

To bring the fake news home to Kansas City, a Star editor had to make the conscious decision that this story was newsworthy. It was not. In this case, as in many others, fake news is generated to offset the damage done to the media’s agenda by real news. Star readers deserve better.