The “Fake News” Epidemic
FAKE NEWS!! Two words that are everywhere at the moment, angering both the public and journalists alike. But why has it become such an epidemic in the news world and what does it mean for journalism?
Why Has Fake News Become So Widespread?
With the popularity of online news growing, so does the occurrence of fake news. People are relying less on official news-outlets, and looking online. This allows unmonitored fake news stories to be put out there for the public to read.
Facebook in particular has been addressed about this issue. It has been said that most viral lies are spread through Facebook, as the site has struggled to monitor the content shared on it. Facebook has recently set up a plan to tackle fake news, which I will discuss later on.
However, even some official news outlets have been scolded for publishing fake news stories. For example, the Daily Mail’s online newspaper has been accused of publishing fake news in order to draw in readers. This How Stuff Works YouTube video goes into more detail about this and provides tips on spotting fake news stories…
With official news outlets publishing fake news too, it is no wonder that the subject is everywhere at the moment. It is a worrying concept and poses the question, who can we trust to deliver reliable news?
The 2016 Presidential Election- A Breading Ground For Fake News
Fake news was particularly highlighted in 2016 and has been branded the year of fake news…
“Mainstream media melted down as fake news festered”- Wired
The United States presidential election has a large role to play in this. Fabricated stories about both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were published online, acting as propaganda for the campaigns.
Examples of fake news headlines from the election:
- “Pope Francis Shocks World, Endorses Donald Trump for President, Releases Statement”
- “Just Read the Law: Hillary Is Disqualified From Holding Any Federal Office”
- “It’s Over: Hillary’s ISIS Email Just Leaked and It’s Worse Than Anyone Could Have Imagined”
Fake news was not a serious problem until the final three months of the campaign. Fake news stories about the election were receiving more engagement on Facebook than election stories from legitimate news outlets. The top 20 false stories were receiving nearly 9 million likes, shares and comments, whereas the top 20 stories from major news outlets were receiving around 7 million.
Measures To Prevent Fake News
Facebook has faced a lot of backlash regarding fake news, and has even been blamed for influencing the presidential election. Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder and CEO of Facebook released plans to tackle this issue back in December 2016.
Facebook will use third-party fact checking organisations to help flag up fake news stories. They plan on running this feature in Germany in the next few weeks, ahead of their parliamentary election. Hopefully this will avoid a repeat of the fake news/US election dilemma. The company is also looking into other possible future features.
Facebook also has plans to set up the Facebook Journalism Project in order to train future journalists and create better ties to journalism. They hope this will also help with the fake news problem and the future of journalism in general.
Overall…
… fake news will always be an issue in a world of social media and internet access, however it is promising that huge corporations such as Facebook are doing something about it.
