A seemingly-credible reference, but actually a junk article.
When seen as a citation, in another document it looks good. but upon closer inspection, there is at best not much there, or at worst outright lies and falsehoods.
example: New York Times op-ed about Signal and private communication, December 28, 2022
The op-ed works to create the appearance of a “debate” on more or less settled issues. This is a powerful function, bolstered by the NYT imprimatur, which allows it serve as a potemkin-citation – a seemingly credible reference in support of bad privacy laws and platforms.
Also, potemkin-citation are only possible from “reputable” sources.