Is the term Fake News being abused by some?

Julia Black

Juliablackjack@gmail.com 

 

Fake news -- a popular term we have come to hear just about everywhere this year. If you go online and search "fake news" guess whose face you will most likely see appear on the news results of this search. Hint: this is someone who is very vocal about his hate towards the media and had probably said the words "fake news" more than anyone in the last four years. President Trump.

I don't believe the media has reported on anyone who hates the media more than the US president himself. In fact, if you look up Donald Trump and fake news on search engine Google, and head to the news area, Google tells you that about 89,800,000 results were found. Sure, many of these are most likely far from being the legitimate news articles we want, but that is beside the point.

 

Picture source: BBC News

It is definitely something that is feeding the media even more, but what exactly is it about fake news that is so popular? Does it have to do with people of power? Or important people trying to protect their image or contradict what is being said about them online?

Television network BBC came out with an article regarding the topic of Donald Trump and his use of the term back in 2018, in which reporter David Lee described Trump to have "co-opted it [fake news] to mean news he simply didn't like." (Lee)

Is it that simple? Could anyone in power claim what is being said about them online is just fake news? When is fake news actually fake news and not just something someone decided because they didn't agree or like what was being said?

The answer to the latter can be tied back to last week's blog post about ethical journalism. More specifically, about how some reporters distanced themselves from their ethical codes and reported mindlessly without proper sourcing or correct information mainly, with the purpose of reporting first or making money.

With this, comes possible harm. The whole world has been able to see this with the outbreak of the coronavirus, where false information has been spreading at a fast pace since the very beginning of the pandemic.

In an article titled "How fake news about coronavirus became a second pandemic", news outlet Nature shared a quote by the World Health Organization stating, "We're not just fighting an epidemic; we're fighting an infodemic." (WHO)

Regardless of the use of the term fake news and who is claiming it, whether it be someone in power or not, fake news is a reality today and a dangerous one that could harm journalism in the future if not avoided.