by Abigail Kroemer
Scientists have recently found a way to genetically clone God. Yes, God. And Joe Biden had a heart attack 6 days ago, the Democrats just don’t want you to know. That, of course, happened shortly after Jeff Sessions was found dead and rotting in the White House. Did you raise an eyebrow at any of these statements? Hopefully you did. These are all from The Onion, a satirical media publication that covers current events, both real and fake.
While these headlines are blatantly false and ridiculous, some fake news can be much more subtle, and the majority of people don’t know how to tell real news from fake. To some, it may not be a surprise that the Democrats have been hiding Joe Biden’s death for a week. If their most trusted news source had put out that statement, the general public might believe it in a heartbeat and spread the lies around even further.
Today, fake and exaggerated news dominates the industry. At this point, it is no longer about figuring out which news is fake, but rather which is real. The list of sources flagged for fake news seems endless. So, as a society, one of our most important jobs is to become smart and educated consumers of news. But how do we do this? What “trusted” sources are actually trustworthy, and which ones use aspects of satire or extreme exaggeration to make them untrustworthy?
The top news site right now based on visits in the United States is CNN (Agarwal). This might not come as a surprise to you. To many Americans, at least those on the left, CNN is a highly regarded news source, followed closely by the Huffington Post. On the right, Fox News is one of the most popular sources. Others include The Washington Post, NPR, The New York Times, CBS (Agarwal). All of these would be viewed very highly as reliable and credible news sources. However, there are several thousands of sources that are unequivocally unreliable (Zimbars). One of the most important things you can do as a consumer is to educate yourself to tell them apart.
Besides publishing blatantly false or exaggerated articles, there are other issues arising in the fake news epidemic. As a news consumer, you could be stuck in an echo chamber. Also known as selective exposure, you might find yourself seeking out or reading only information that directly echoes your beliefs and in turn avoiding any ideas that don’t (Ensor). In an investigative article published by NPR a fake news author named Jestin Coler stated that his reason for writing fake articles was to “infiltrate the echo-chambers of the alt-right… and then be able to publicly denounce those stories and point out the fact that they were fiction” (Coler).
Coler is a self pronounced fake news author who publishes stories with absolutely no truth to them. His stories are aimed at Conservatives, and his publications prove just how fast fake news can spread. One of said articles was shared a half a million times on Facebook, even after he pronounced it to be fake and it was denounced several times by fact checkers on the platform.
This number should be alarming to you. Over half a million people read and believed an article based entirely on misinformation. What made so many people buy into clearly falsified information? Coler believes that as a society in the digital age, we are “media-illiterate,” which is ironic to say the least. He states that if you push anything hard enough and make it sound as believable as possible with a set audience in mind, they’ll believe almost anything you say (Coler). This tactic has been seen recently in many instances with the Republican party. “We are living in a post-fact era,” Coler states, which isn’t something that started with Donald Trump, but is something that has progressively escalated with his presidency. Even more notably, Coler’s efforts to spread fake news were not bought into on the left. He states that liberals “just never took the bait” (Coler).
It isn’t just established fake news writers that spread lies. Even though major news sources like CNN and Fox might not publish blatantly false articles, they still use bias and dramatization in their news. According to a study by Johnson and Wales University, “using the same foundation and simply changing the delivery of news through selective wording, news providers are able to manipulate the effect of the story.” In another study, it was found that news channels “tend to misrepresent information to fit the standard of viewers’ prior opinions” (Ensor). Kathy Ensor studied the content of both CNN and Fox News in depth to determine the political stances and factuality of each channel compared to the opinions expressed. She found that on both networks, “much more opinion was brought into the news than straight fact.”
How can you protect yourself from falling for these lies and exaggerations? When finding a news article or channel and determining its validity, there are four main points you should initially check off that will help in solidifying your decision to use an article or not. Major aspects to take into consideration are the accuracy, authority, currency, and coverage of the source. First, check the article with your prior knowledge of the topic and make sure nothing contradicts. This includes spelling and grammatical errors, as well as an excessive use of technical language. Also, look for any disclaimers about the accuracy of the piece. Secondly, take a deeper look at the author or organization that published the article. Are they well known and reputable? Look for any bias that might be introduced based on the author’s background or personal opinions. Then, make sure the source is up to date and current. Using an outdated source could be detrimental to an accurate study. Finally, make sure that the source covers what it says it will cover and is relevant to the topic (Cathy Timmer).
With the way news is presented to the public in a generation such as ours, it is easy to get caught up in believing things we shouldn’t. Fake news isn’t going away anytime soon, so the most important thing for news consumers to do is become more aware of it and know how to protect themselves from it. Don’t get caught in an echo chamber where you are fed exactly what you want to hear. Instead, find sources that don’t utilize viewer or reader bias, check your news against what you know to be true, and don’t rely on one source alone. Remember, even CNN and Fox have their opinions.
Works Cited
Agarwal, Anuj. “Top 100 USA News Websites, Blogs, & Influencers in 2021.” Feedspot Blog, 2 Feb. 2021, blog.feedspot.com/usa_news_websites/.
Ensor, Kathy. “The Partisan Delivery of News: A Content Analysis of CNN and FOX.” Scholar Archives, Johnson and Wales University, Nov. 2018,
scholarsarchive.jwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1036&context=student_scholarship.
Sydell, Laura. “We Tracked Down A Fake-News Creator In The Suburbs. Here's What We
Learned.” NPR, NPR, 23 Nov. 2016,
www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/11/23/503146770/npr-finds-the-head-of-a-covert-fake-news-operation-in-the-suburbs.
Timmer, Cathy. “Q. How Do I Know If a Source Is Reliable?” How Do I Know If a Source Is
Reliable? - Got a Question? Fast Answers and FAQs, libanswers.tcl.edu/faq/6286.
Zimbars, Melissa. “False, Misleading, Clickbait-y, and Satirical ‘News’ Sources.” Google Docs, docs.google.com/document/d/10eA5-mCZLSS4MQY5QGb5ewC3VAL6pLkT53V_81ZyitM/edit.
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"Don’t get caught in an echo chamber where you are fed exactly what you want to hear." I agree with this and that you have to be actively trying to get different view points.
He states that if you push anything hard enough and make it sound as believable as possible with a set audience in mind, they’ll believe almost anything you say