The Genesis of Fake News
In this strange world we live in, news and science are questioned or outright ignored and Donald Trump is President. “Donald Trump? The reality show star? He’s President?” Yes Doc Brown, but that’s not what we’ll focus on right now.
My life is in media. Not only am I a cinematographer and TV critic, I’m also a newspaper reporter. You might say I’m a triple threat. Even though I’m small potatoes, I’m highly aware of what’s going on in — and against — the news.
During this political season (Campaign 2016 to the post-election hangover), the buzz words “Fake News” have caused me a lot of contemplation.
This Fake News thing has been brewing for a while, long before the election and a bit of it before the President started making accusations.
The rise of social media and clickbait
Facebook began small in 2004, exclusively in the Ivy League schools. By 2006, it was made available to everyone 13 + years of age with an email address.
Social media usage exploded from just about 5% in 2005 to 69% of people using social media by 2011. According to this fancy graph, Facebook is way ahead of every other modern social media (Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter) in terms of regular usage. Nearly 80% of users are on Facebook on a daily basis. That’s probably obvious but I like to back things up with facts.
With that daily usage comes a prime spot for sharing. Things shared on Facebook can spread like wild fire. Become viral.
And thus, the genesis of clickbait. Or, rather, the internet version of it, since it appears that clickbait title-grabs have existed in some form for quite some time.
“What he does next will surprise you, what we found was shocking, you’ll never guess why….” These titles hook the reader with a promise and rarely deliver. But we humans are an inquisitive bunch. We can be lured in by the sensationalized nature of these headlines. Why else do you think tabloids and crap reality shows still sell? We enjoy trash.
Satire and Social Media
We all have a couple of those Facebook friends who don’t understand satire.
Most people by now should know that The Onion is a famous satire news site. For instance, an article I clicked on today was about how CPS is taking away 80 million children because everyone is an unfit parent.
The incredibly-legit sounding website Clickhole shared this story about beanie babies being filled with spider eggs, and how the time has come for those spiders to hatch. It came with a Photoshopped picture of a Beanie Baby covered in spiders and a ludicrous story. The sensational way the story was written should have rung false to anyone who read it, but unfortunately I saw people who actually believed it.
Notably if you scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, you’ll see The Onion’s logo, and a disclaimer about it being a satire site.
So yes, there kind of is a thing called Fake News. It’s a joke. Remember those?
Mistakes can be made
We also have a problem with the speed of news-bringing in the Internet age.
In the rush to get the scoop and be the first (or second) source to break a story (and get those sweet, sweet page views and shares) some sources have been guilty of sharing a story before it has been properly researched. Every year there are a number of these that are refuted. Here’s a list on Cracked — Part 16, in fact.
Bias
We can’t deny that there’s an inherent bias in any form of writing, because it is first viewed through the eye and experience of the writer. Remember my introduction? Even this piece is biased, because I see everything through my own experiences.
News media, true journalists, try to present the facts in as unbiased a fashion as possible. It’s only fair. But you do need to consider your sources. Some sources have an obvious slant towards a particular political party or world view, and will tailor their content to fit that mold.
I think this chart does a pretty good job of explaining things in a visual way:
For your hard news, you’re going to want to stay away from those sources that skew too far off to either side of the political spectrum. For valuable sources of real journalism, turn to NPR, the BBC and yes, The New York Times. For clickbait and less research, go towards the outer fringes of the graph.
Actual fake news/poorly masked satire
Then you go a step further. Those sources that bring in the politics. Remember that one where the Pope endorses Trump? To save time, I’m directing you right to the Snopes article on it. The story originated on the unreal WTOE 5 News which I can’t even find a dedicated website for. Obviously it’s fake, right? It’s got “toe” in the name.
What about http://abcnews.com.co/? It’s a somewhat convincing looking news site, except it’s not the real ABC News. Here, you see a story about Bill Murray thwarting a bank robbery and a protester being paid $3,500 to protest Trump. Oh, also pot turns you gay.
The result
In a hyper sensitive election season, people reacted and clicked share without even knowing if what they were sharing was real — and many times wihtout even reading the content they were sharing.
The problem isn’t necessarily with the source. The problem lies in people who aren’t picking up on satire, slant or obviously fake stories and are reacting to things based on their political leanings.
When the President calls the news fake, he’s damaging not those sources that are actually causing a problem, he’s damaging news as an institution. A proud institution I might add, that has built itself on a matter of research, vetting sources and bringing truth to the public.
It’s a proven fact that people tend to gravitate towards those stories that promote their way of thinking and are less receptive to those that challenge it. It’s called confirmation bias. For example, anti-vaxxers are more likely to believe one refuted story about how vaccines cause autism, instead of the hundreds that say otherwise. That bullheadedness has brought back diseases once nearly eradicated, such as the Mumps and Rubella. These blinders are hurting us as a society.
Satirical, poorly researched or biased news is more probable than the oxymoron “fake news.” It’s not as catchy as a title, but it’s more honest.
Sources:
History of Facebook
Social Media Fact Sheet
A History of Clickbait
With “Fake News” Trump moves from alternative facts to alternative language
