Is no one else bothered by the fact the piece of content that’s gotten the most zaps on nostr recently, is a sensationalist hot take? Nostr doesn’t seem to be solving the fundamental issue plaguing modern media, that sensationalism will drown out balanced content any day of the week.

Disagree. There is no kind of bad mechanism pushing sensationalism here, no engagement farming, no algorithm used, except for honest and well written words. Sensationalist hot takes with value will always get value back. Zaps, boosts, comments... that's how it SHOULD work