Since the last U.S. presidential election, ‘fake news’ has been a topic of concern for the world. Some say that Trump would not have won the election without the help of false reporting and the rhetoric of fake news. Whether this is true or not is debatable, but in the internet, fake news has the perfect vehicle to persist. Because of the uncontrollable and unaccountable nature of much of the internet, fake news is an internet controversy that threatens democracy.
The purpose of the news media is to give the public facts for the purpose of the good of society (Kurtzleben, 2017). They are supposed to inform and warn the public of corruption and other societal concerns, so the public can be informed in its decision-making or voting processes. Politics has infiltrated the news media, and partisan reporting has created a propensity to skew the facts in order to sway public opinion. In addition, outsiders have posed as news agencies on social media in order to create completely false narratives in order to obtain clicks or an increase readership. In 2016, this led to what is now called ‘pizzagate.’ A man entered a pizzeria armed with guns in order to rescue children who were supposedly held there in a sex scandal ran by Hillary Clinton. He surrendered to police after there was no evidence of sex crimes in the establishment. The man had been inspired by false news reporting (Mihailidis & Viotty, 2017).
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It is clear that fake news can be compelling, but what is unclear is how to stop it, so incidences like this don’t impact individuals and sway democratic elections. Social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter are increasingly monitoring and shutting down fake news reporting, but there are many producers with no clear way to detect them all. Additionally, political rhetoric continues to undermine the real news media, and the public is increasingly distrustful of all news media sources. Therefore, individuals must do their due diligence when looking at news articles, especially on social media, so they can continue to be informed about important issues.
- Kurtzleben, D. (2017). With ‘fake news,’ Trump moves from alternative facts to alternative language. NPR Politics. Retrieved from http://drwho.virtadpt.net
- Mihailidis, P. & Viotty, S. (2017). Spreadable spectacle in digital culture: Civic expression, fake news, and the role of media literacies in “post-fact” society. American Behavioral Scientists, 61(4). Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gregory_Payne2/publication/
