Fake news

We have learned about fake news and how they affect people. Fake news does not only makes the reader loose faith in the webpage/newspaper it is published in but also makes the reader question the article and maybe even believe it. In this blogpost I will inform you about how fake news can be spotted and also why they are made.

Fake news ar made for many reasons. In many cases, fake news are made to put a person or a firm in a bad lighting. The fake news are often made to either damage their integrity or lower their reputation. Fake news are also made to give fame or status to the publisher. When fake news occur, people often loose their minds of they belive it. Imagen reading about Barack Obama faking his friendship with Joe Biden. That would really shock a lot of people and put Barack Obama in a bad situation, even though it is a fake news. In 2016, the rolling stones were said to have raped some on campus. The article were written by Sabrina Rubin Erdely and she accused The Rolling Stones on having an sexual assault on the campus of the University of Virginia. That fake article made The Rolling Stones loose an incredible big number of fans and even made then sure the creator of the fake rumor. It made The Rolling Stones look incredible bad. That article would give a high amount of credit to the publisher if people were to belive the news that were untrue. After Rolling Stones were in court, the judge were to prove that the article were untrue and fake. (source: http://mashable.com/2016/11/04/rolling-stone-defamation-sexual-assualt-story/#1EaxI_2RUiqV )

Fake news are untrue rumors about a person, a happening or a firm, that are spread over the internett or in newspapers. Untrue rumors that are spread and shared are not always easy to discover. But there are ways to see if the article is untrue or if it does not coapertive  with the truth.

One way to spot a fake news is to look at the publisher. Is this source relatable and can you trust it? If you have heard of the publisher before and they seam trustable, look at the article or the headline. If it is a crazy headline that describes a situation that could never happen, it is un reliable and most likely to be untrue. For instance “Donald Trump is sleeping with Hillary Clinton” that were an article right after the U.S. election.

Another way to spot fake news is to see if there are any similar news that uses the same pictures or has the same contents. Big and popular news are often written several times by several people in the media and spread fast. And if it is a true statement, there are often several pieces of evidence to prove the news right. Since fake news often are made up, there will be no proof nor evidence of why the news are true.

 

A few weeks ago we worked with a padlet about fake news, and we wrote about how to detect fake news and find out which news are reliable. Later on we received comments on our padlet from students in the United States, Australia and Bergen.

Today we have worked with students from the United States and they have written down their opinions on fake news here. I think that Joe and Dan wrote something very interesting.

Joe and Dan, USA

Fake news is something that has the ability to sway the public’s opinion. This election was heavily influenced by fake news. If more people were aware that fake news exists and how to avoid it I feel that the election would have had a completely different outcome.

Some way to detect fake news and prevent it from getting out are:

• Fast check every statement and headline
• Re inaccuracies and misinformation on social media
• Inform yourself about trustworthy sources
• Check browser extensions for unreliable sources
• Refer to a list of fake news outlets
• Be curious and ask questions

Donald trumps comments on the fake news scandals are crude at best commenting things such as comparing his intelligence agencies to that of “Nazi Germany” and describes them as a disgrace and then refuses to give the reporters of BuzzFeed questions and makes himself sound like a child.

I agree with what Joe and Dan say, that the election was influenced by fake news. Everyone has a responsibility to do research and make sure that the news is real. It is just a quick search.

 

Emma and Christine, Australia

It’s easy to believe fake news when we don’t know the facts. A good example you have stated is Facebook. This is because it is easy for anyone of any education to post something that could be false. We agree that its always easy to tell if the source is unreliable but there are many ways to find news that is true. This could be on websites such “The Conversation” because it’s says who wrote the article and who they are

I were pleasantly surprised by the comebacks on our padlet from Australia, and I found the comment really interesting and trustworthy. I also learned something new, because I had never heard of the webpage “The Conversation”, and it will definitely come to good use.

 

Antonio, Bergen

Fake news destroys our trust in sources, it can take a long time to find news that are reliable. Fake news can also be used as propaganda, to alter minds and change what we think. North korean leaders used this to make it look like North Korea won the world mastership in football/soccer.
I think that what Antonio wrote was extra interesting because he had a very good example from North Korea. I agree very much to the fact that face news can be used as propaganda.