Danielle Smith
ds006019@ohio.edu
News has always played a vital role in the functionality of society, but its relevance has become increasingly more apparent in today's world due to the use of social media. Social media allows news to spread rapidly and extensively; so far, more people can receive information. Along with the accessibility of modern media, recent events in history have caused many individuals to start engaging with the news. Serious events, such as the worldwide pandemic and high-stakes election, often cause people who do not typically engage with the news to begin, giving even more power to the media. With even greater power, the media has a far broader range of people that they could deceive.
Fake news can come from anywhere and anyone. There are many different motives for spreading fake news, such as financial, political, and sometimes just comedy. Because social media allows easy access for posting and re-sharing information, news, regardless of fake or real, can spread faster than wildfire now. Tactics for spreading fake news include creating websites that look precisely like trusted news sites and then editing pictures to an unbelievable nature. Companies with money can use it to have their fake news look very real so that it fools many of the non-suspecting victims who see it.
Adverse effects can also come from the aftermath experienced by victims of fake news, discussed in the article "The Victims of Fake News" from the Columbia Journalism Review. For example, the article discussed David Wheeler, a child's father killed in the Sandy Hook Shooting. Conspiracy theorists have gone as far as publicly accusing him of making up his child's life and the shooting. They use personal details, such as his job, as "evidence" that it is all a conspiracy theory and set up fake accounts pretending to be him. They would then make statements on these accounts that the child was falsified and did this as a job.
Another negative impact of the large amounts of fake news is that the public has grown increasingly more skeptical of the media to the point where some don't trust it at all. I attached an article called "Americans' distrust in the media at alarming levels, polls reveal" from The Washington Times. This article discusses the mistrust faced by the media. Also, it discusses percentages of a poll taken in 2020 that states, "51% of Americans get their news online, 35% from television, 9% from radio and 5% from magazine and newspapers". Seeing that most of society obtains their information from online sources, it means there need to be foolproof methods to determine if statements are factual. We can't trust or mistrust too much, or we as a whole will never really understand what is going on in the world. The media is a beautiful tool that is actively being taken advantage of, so for it to be helpful, people must learn how to distinguish truthful statements from fake news.
In the article "10 Ways To Spot Fake News", Dr. Christopher Dwyer teaches people tips to help distinguish if a piece of news is fact or fiction. He understands the struggle people experience when they have not been trained to determine if something is accurate, and he wants to help. He provides ten very effective questions to help someone narrow down the truth.
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