@mike Thanks for reply 1-13 and the high level overview.
I'll comment in multiple post. 1/x
To be clear: it's not the 11K but specifically the "verified quality" and "promoted by the editorial board" publishers I question. For those Flipboard acts as a seal of quality & honesty.
The proces you describe appears to be done with an intent to be objective (right?) but appears to ignore a step where you differentiate between honest publishers and websites created for lobbying.