In my own life as a reader I experience real moments of alienation when a writer feels too perfect, or like even the flaws they are admitting are somehow noble, or dysfunctional in an overly edgy, aesthetically pleasing way.
I know real people, whose names I could tell you, people I know who have said 'I've stopped buying the New York Times. ' Why? Because their editorial position has filtered, has leached into the news pages.