Fake News and the American Public

Madeline Thomas

mt688819@ohio.edu

Photo taken by Markus Winkler

Fake news is everywhere. As hard as we might try to avoid it, some incorrect clickbait or an exaggerated statistic will always be hiding right around the corner, waiting to be read. Fake news has infiltrated all forms of media and topics, from Twitter and Facebook to medical discoveries and government policies. The real kicker is how authentic and informative fake news might seem. It does not matter whether readers are college-educated or have high-paying jobs. They are still able to fall for a well-written but wildly inaccurate article.

When I was a child, my mother had a habit of finding (and then believing) fake news. I remember her telling me about how chemtrails were put into the air to poison the American public slowly and how she did not want to get vaccines because they might make me autistic. I was not even allowed to get a fluoride treatment when I went to the dentist because she had found some false information about how fluoride was unsafe to consume.

These ideas of dangerous chemicals being put into chemtrails and vaccines might seem silly or even ridiculous to many people, but not all American's see it that way. My mother went to college, got a degree, and held a steady job for many years. Yet she, too, was able to fall down the rabbit hole of antigovernmental conspiracy theories that are sprinkled all over the Internet.

An article titled "Misinformation, fake news, and implications for the PR industry" by Osama Tahir noted that the number of people who believe in fake news is growing at an alarming rate. In recent years, issues with former president Trump and the global Covid-19 pandemic have only increased the spread of misinformation in the news.

When Covid-19 hit, it was like my childhood was replaying itself in real-time. Again, I saw the same fear and determination in people's eyes that I saw in my mother's many years ago, only now it was as my friends and family discussed the newest medical updates and "cures." Anita Varma, author of "Five (Subtle) Types of Misinformation in Media Coverage of Coronavirus," listed just a few of the ways that fake news has taken root as journalists and readers alike attempt to simplify the ongoing pandemic.

Unfortunately, if history has taught us anything, fake news will always be around. As a journalist, it is my top priority to correct any fake news that I read or write because I believe that the American public deserves to read the truth and not any more fake news.