Fake News and Trustworthy Sources: Who’s in Your Newsfeed?

Brian Ross of ABC news

Pundits, politicians, and professors are all wringing their hands over the proliferation of fake news. They’re all very concerned about the masses who now believe fake news. One thing that most fail to acknowledge is that many people prefer fake news over real news. Many viewers, readers, and listeners simply prefer news that confirms the things they believe in. It makes life easier. They like fake news and they’re not going to stop consuming it or sharing it simply because someone says it’s bad.

A Potential Tale of Two Possiblities.

A lot of fake news can be detected by listening for two little words.

In days of yore, publishers and editors didn’t put stories on the air or into print until they had enough of the facts to support the storyline. Sometimes in the race to break a story ahead of the competition, they got a little ahead of themselves. When they did, they sometimes printed or aired material that was not accurate and had to be retracted or corrected. Since reputations are important to news organizations, they avoided making mistakes as much as possible.

Now, to stay ahead of other outlets, some news organizations go with material that hasn’t yet been fleshed out. Understanding a few code words can help consumers to recognize when a story might, possibly, potentially be fake news. For example, James Rosen of Fox News wrote a story on March 23^rd with the following provocative title.

Potential 'smoking gun' showing Obama administration spied on Trump team, source says.