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American History 120 - Mountz: Fake News

Dr. William Mountz History 120

Russian Bots

Not a Phenomenon

Fake news is not a new phenomenon, but the 2016 elections have brought it to the forefront of our attention. The term "fake news," has become a catch-all for all different kinds of news that promote false information, intentionally mislead readers, manipulate our emotions, and provide affirmation to our existing viewpoints and biases.

To complicate things further, it's also becoming more and more common for many people to label news that disagrees with their own viewpoints as fake, without further investigating or verifying the information being presented. So, sometimes you might hear that a news article is fake or that a news source is fake, even when it's pretty reliable. When in doubt, it''s always good to check for yourself.

Here are some different kinds of fake news:

  • Fake News or Hoax News - Stories that promote false information. While they may be loosely influenced by facts, these stories can't be verified. These stories often rely on language designed to get an emotional response (like outrage) from readers.
  • Clickbait - Outrageous headlines and stories designed to get readers to click open links to a particular webpage. These often try to manipulate emotions or elicit surprise. You've seen a lot of this already - it often involves politics or celebrities.
  • Hyper-partisan or Heavily Biased News - Stories that present facts, often carefully selected, through a biased perspective. There are different levels of bias, but credible reporters and news sites attempt to present facts with objectivity. 
  • News Parody/Satire - Stories that parody current events and reporting. While they often use false headlines, they are created to poke fun at current events or people, not to convince readers that the information is true.

How to Spot Fake News

Russian Bots

Imposter News Sites

Imposter News Sites

These websites are designed to look like legitimate sites and incorporate some facts into their stories, but the articles are false. They are an attempt to convince readers to pass the news on as if it were true. These fake news sites get revenue from the ads you see on the page.

WITscience

Real News Right Now

Satire

Satire websites are sites that may be topical, but the stories are not real and meant to be humorous.

The Onion

McSweeny's

Clickbait and Hoaxes

These websites also have bits of true stories but insinuate and make up other details to create an emotional response, typically anger or fear. Most of these are conspiratorial in nature, are very unreliable, and frequently shared on social media.  The stories often feature outrageous headlines in all capital letters.

The Daily Sheeple

REALfarmacy

 

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