When I was a kid, I remember going to the grocery store with my mom and seeing the magazine rack near the check-out line. For whatever reason, there was always a new issue of a ridiculously fake magazine called “World News”. They were always printed in black and white, and had the most amazingly fake and outlandish front pages you can fathom (aliens, conspiracies, etc.). See, even at nine years old, I knew this was made up gibberish. Now, in 2017, fake news is a little harder to detect than back then. No one really knows what to believe anymore, because many stories can seem valid when they are in fact false. It also certainly does not help that certain politicians, (a.k.a. Donald J. Drumf), have been continually discrediting news sources that are reliable, and praising information stemming from unchecked sources.
Not all hope is lost, in my opinion, of the news and media today. There are ways to tell is a source is fake or reliable. As Wynne Davis from NPR states, one must:
· “Pay Attention to the domain and URL”
· “Read the ‘About Us’ section”
· “Look at the quotes in a story”
· “Look at who said them”
· “Check the comments”
· “Reverse image search”
In my opinion, I do think that there and that certain journalists in the media are still making an effort to challenge our political leaders. To name one recent example, when Kellyanne Conway falsely inquired about the “Bowling Green Massacre” that never happened, many reporters were sure to convey to the public that this was not a real event. She meant to refer to terrorists who were convicted in Bowling Green, and misspoke.
https://youtu.be/flyW41U7XPw
Regardless of what her intentions were, I think it is good that these statements are still being watched and people are still being held accountable, even if their intentions are good.
For your entertainment, here are some of the "Weekly World News" cover pages I was referring to:
For your entertainment, here are some of the "Weekly World News" cover pages I was referring to:
I recommend googling images if you need a laugh.
You're welcome
Hey Emily,
ReplyDeleteI do agree that there are so many unreliable sources in the media, so it's hard to trust them. I do see that there are some news sources who are trying to do a good job by researching and challenging political leaders, however, I don't feel that there are enough news corporations that do that. Most seem to just funnel out what they are told to.
Hey Emily,
ReplyDeleteGreat blog! I really liked how you went into the steps necessary to spot fake news. Having those points layer out was really helpful and insightful
However, let's consider.. maybe a man CAN fry eggs on his band head or maybe dolphins CAN grow human arms. We'll never know unless we check the sources