Fake News

According to the Media Literacy Project, media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media. Media literate individuals are critical consumers and producers of media content, whether it appears in print, in digital formats, or on social media platforms.

Why should you care about whether or not your news is real or fake?

1. You deserve the truth.  You are smart enough to make up your own mind - as long as you have the real facts in front of you.  You have every right to be insulted when you read fake news.


2. Fake news can hurt you, and a lot of other people.  Purveyors of fake medical advice like Mercola.com and NaturalNews.com help perpetuate myths like HIV and AIDS aren't related, or that vaccines cause autism.  These sites are heavily visited and their lies are dangerous.


3. Real news can benefit you. If you are writing a research paper, your professor will expect you to vet your sources. If you are planning on voting in an election, you want to read as much good information on a candidate so you can vote for the person who best represents your ideas and beliefs.  Fake news will not help you get a good grade or make the world a better place, but real news can.


4. Fake news destroys your credibility. If your arguments are built on bad information, it will be much more difficult for people to believe you in the future.

You will find more statistics at Statista

Reasons that fake news has become a growing problem include:

• The growing use of social media as the primary source for news consumption: 
  According to a Pew Research Center report over 40% of adults in the US go to Facebook for their news.
   
• The appeal of sensational and often false "clickbait" information:  
  News that goes "viral" and is widely shared is far more likely to be false or misleading.
   
• "Filter bubbles" that result from the personalized web:
  Search engines and social media usually present a us with information intended to fit with our own individual interests and perspective. We then miss information that others with different perspectives are more likely to see. Watch the TED Talk on "filter bubbles."
   
• Confirmation bias: 
  People are predisposed to believe information that fits their worldview and to discount information that does not.

These factors reflect a need to carefully evaluate news sources and where and how we get our news.