Signs of Fake News
"A lie can travel half way around the world before the truth can get its shoes on."
How to...
Understand the purpose of fake news.
Purpose 1: To make a few people a lot of money
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Purpose 2: To damage democracy
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How to...
Spot the Easy Signs
Sign 1: Look for unusual web addresses like .com.co
Fake news sites will take a legitimate newsite, say USA Today or ABC News, and try to fool you with their web address. For example ABCNews.com.co was a trickster, fake site. (It’s been taken down.)
Sign 2: Can you find the news on other, reputable sites?
If you can’t find this news on other reputable sites, then it’s probably not real news.
Usatoday.com, PBS, and the Associated Press are considered least biased by both left-leaning and right-leaning people..
Wait a second--aren’t news companies partisan? This is where it gets tricky: The difference between news and editorials. Journalists have a code of ethics. If it’s news, and it’s verifiable, there’s an obligation to report it. ## Also, hot news is a money maker.
Sign 3: Does it seem like it’s crazy? Does it seem like fiction?
This one is tougher, because there are crazy things happening in real life. Some people really do and say rotten things. So when innocent people are accused of saying or doing rotten things, how do you know what to believe? So, reference point #2 above.
Sign 4: Are there typos or grammatical errors?
Legitimate news sites have a thorough review process before news gets posted.
Obvious typos or really odd grammar are two red flags.
Sign 5: Be wary of the comments section
A good way to demoralize yourself is to read the comments section of… well just about anything.
On top of the toxicity of many comments, there are also just fake comments. Comments can be mass-created and faked. They follow a format that switches the specific words and the order of the words, but still creates unique sentences. These are put into place to make it seem like there
Resources and Citations
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