Is seeing really believing?

Michaela Gress

mg732415@ohio.edu

When it comes to fake news not only does it apply to new articles or what you see on TV, but it also applies to pictures. Sometimes what you are shown in a newspaper or on social media really isn’t what it seems.

For example, think about the time you were watching your favorite baseball team and right during the seventh inning there was a commercial break for an injury. You are annoyed that there are now going to be commercials for the next five minutes but an ad for your favorite burger place comes on.

They advertise their new bacon cheeseburger and seeing this image of a perfectly put together burger makes you want to go get one. You leave your home in a hurry and find yourself in the drive thru and finally get your burger. All excited you unwrap it to find a scary squashed looking thing starring back at you.

                                  https://www.foodiecrush.com/bacon-double-cheddar-cheeseburger-with-caramelized-onions/                                                                                 

This isn’t the burger that you thought you were going to get but instead you were gifted with a burger that looks like it had been sat on. If you knew that the burger you were going to get was going to look like that then you probably wouldn’t have gone out of your way to get on in the first place. Just like this description of the burger is comparable to news stories today.

 The writers know that their fake news will not get any publicity unless they try to perfect their distorted images to make them seem more than they really are. This then leads to the stories being shared and more people thinking that the stories are real.

 If more people saw this type of news like the squashed burger then they would realize that what they are reading or seeing isn’t worth their time. It is important that we go through different articles or news stories and show family and friends that not everything is as it seems.

 It isn’t always pleasing to the eye because life as well as the news isn’t always perfect. Bad things happen to some and others experience things that no one in a million years should ever experience.

As the old saying goes “seeing is believing” but, this isn’t always the case. It is important that when we see an image that we should ask ourselves to do I really believe what is in front of me?

Is this image doing what the article is about justice or is it just making the article more fake? Always remember to not promote the fake imagery and to do research on what happened. Look for the news sources that you trust and know will not full you like the fake perfect burger does.