It may not be true, but says something about Chinese Society that I found it plausible.

Literally a South Park bit:

"Wow, you've actually seen people eating eachorther?!"

"No, Tom, we not actually seen it... we're just reporting it."

It was not immediately clear whether any of the blackouts actually happened

"We're not sure it happened, but because it's bad country, then it did"

Here's a thing we think could have possibly happened somewhere. We are serious news reporters.

"Reportedly" means "I'm super extra lying," in the same way "but at what cost?" means "I'm actually saying one true thing this time"

Not exactly the same, but I'm reminded of an old Onion video Breaking News: Some Bullshit Happening Somewhere

"I don't get my new from Faux News, I get it from a real news site like NBC(that is totes not also syndicated monopolistic bulllshit)."

CHINA EXPLODED AND DIED

It's not clear if China actually exploded and died