Fake News- What and What Not to Believe
In the 21st century, a high majority of news stories reported to the media are classed as ‘fake’. A lot of these stories are conveyed via the internet, usually through news websites and social media platforms. Living in an age of growing technological advancement, it can be very easy to release stories where the facts are inaccurate and can be deemed untrue. Images shown are digitally ‘doctored’ to make them appear as what anybody who looks at them would suspect.
“For those with a vested political interest, creating, sharing and/or editing false stories can distract, confuse and manipulate viewers to sow discord and uncertainty (especially in already polarized environments). Posters and platforms can also make money from the sharing of fake, sensationalist content.” (Thomson. et al, 2020)
Over recent years, particularly following US president Donald Trump’s election, and the current Covid-19 crisis, several stories centering around those topics were found to be fake. Earlier this year, a short film entitled “Plandemic”, was released. It featured an interview with a scientist who falsely argued that the Covid death tolls were being exaggerated in order to introduce a large-scale vaccination programme.
“Allegedly orchestrated by “big pharma” companies in conjunction with Bill Gates, this scheme would supposedly “kill millions” in the name of generating profit. The video was removed from Facebook and YouTube where it had been shared, but not before it had been shared an estimated 8 million times.” (Crawford, 2020)
Further investigation from the report unearthed that this “information” was connected with attempts by far right organisations to exploit the pandemic to promote its extreme ideology, with Crawford (2020) further analysing that similar conspiracies are frequent among far-right social media circles however, many of them slide into apparent anti-semitism, with claims the virus is a “hoax conceived by Jewish elites intent on carrying out a vaccine either for profit or to wipe out the white race.” One journalist warned that the Plandemic video may just be the beginning of introducing new audiences “into the depths of the far right abyss.”
The outcome of fake news has been rife during the pandemic, with many citizens unsure as to whether a mask will lessen the chances of spreading the infection. Ploys of a similar nature have been brought against Black Lives Matter Protesters, such as branding them all as rioters when videos and photos show most behaving peacefully. In addition, anti-Asian sentiments have been incited following the spread of Covid-19, as a result of “Chinese virus” conspiracy theories elaborated by politicians in the US and Canada.
There are various ways of being able to identify fake news. A pivotal method that can help in detecting the accuracy of a story is with the use graphic art. Steuter (2020) organised several focus groups and gathered data from her students to create resources to instruct readers on how to pinpoint fake news. The results identified various motives as to why media outlets post or re-publish fake news. These included being short-staffed, not fact-checking and actively seeking greater viewership by posting fake news.
The students indicated holistic media literacy and critical thinking training as the best responses. The data ran counter to the current stratagems utilized by publishers and tech companies to classify or fact-check contradicted news. Steuter (2020) eventually stopped recording interpretations of fake news and started establishing how to identify it. By supplying students with knowledge about the nature and agendas of fake news, in an enveloping shape, this was a central phase in engaging and developing their critical literacy capabilities.
“Researchers have shown graphic narratives can accelerate cognition by focusing the reader’s attention on crucial information. Images clarify complex content, especially for visual learners. Comic books require readers to create meaning using multiple factors that helps develop a complex, multi-modal literacy.” (Steuter, 2020)
That is just one of many techniques that can be employed to distinguish fact from fake. As mentioned, another helpful way of checking the accuracy of a story can be analyzing any photos taken. In an example, the above images compare the crowds at the 2017 inauguration for US President Donald Trump with the crowds at former US President Barack Obama’s inauguration back in 2009. The photos estimated that there had been a much smaller turnout at Trump’s than there was at Obama’s. However, these findings were found to be misstated intentionally by news groups.
“Mr. (Sean) Spicer said that Mr. Trump had drawn “the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration”, a statement that photographs clearly show to be false. Mr. Spicer said photographs of the inaugural ceremonies were deliberately framed to “minimize the enormous support that had gathered on the National Mall,” although he provided no proof of either assertion.” (Davis, Rosenberg, 2017)
Photographs of Obama’s inauguration in 2009 and of Trump’s clearly indicated that the crowd on Friday was significantly smaller, but Trump’s secretary, Sean Spicer attributed the discrepancy to new white ground coverings he said had forced unoccupied areas to stand out and to security measures preventing people from entering the mall.
In an age of uncertainty, more and more stories are surfacing with content that is somehow managing to mislead and alarm readers. Let’s hope that the next few decades to come will provide a generation of journalists who know how and where to gather information before they make their story.
References:
Crawford, B. (2020). Coronavirus and conspiracies: how the far right is exploiting the pandemic. Available at: https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-and-conspiracies-how-the-far-right-is-exploiting-the-pandemic-145968
Davis, J.H., Rosenberg, M. (2017). With False Claims, Trump Attacks Media on Turnout and Intelligence Rift. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/21/us/politics/trump-white-house-briefing-inauguration-crowd-size.html
Steuter, E. (2020). Comics can teach readers how to identify fake news. Available at: https://theconversation.com/comics-can-teach-readers-how-to-identify-fake-news-143777
Thomson, T.J., Angus, D., Dootson, P. (2020). 3.2 billion images and 720,000 hours of video are shared online daily. Can you sort real from fake? Available at: https://theconversation.com/3-2-billion-images-and-720-000-hours-of-video-are-shared-online-daily-can-you-sort-real-from-fake-148630
