How about if I sell a million pizzas to be delivered next month then put out articles about how Dominos has poison in their pizzas! People will forget or won't want the order and I will pocket the money. These short sellers are a scam.
There's nothing special about shorting in your imaginary scenario either. You could change your scam to "I own Dominos stock and don't order any pizzas, but I put out articles claiming I ordered a million. People will buy up the stock expecting the profits from the million-pizza-order and I will pocket the money. These long holders are a scam"