"But that wouldn't fool me"
Even the most trained journalists can be fooled. When it comes to the news we have to always keep ourselves on alert. Even when we are receiving a story from a trusted source, we have to acknowledge that that source is also susceptible to being fooled. The most important thing someone can do is not simply accept things at face value. It is not that every single fact needs a deep dive, but if a piece of news is trying to make any kind of claim, it needs to back it up.
An example that occurred this week involved altered photos of actors Florence Pugh and Will Poulter. The two actors were spotted at a beach together. In the unedited photos the two can be seen with friends of theirs in the water and on the beach. However, with the help of photoshop, pictures surfaced that made it look like the two were alone and getting very close with each other. Pugh took to her instagram story to set the record straight about their relationship. In her story she exposed how the images had been altered and shared her own photos from that day that included the other friends that were with them. Several news sights have taken to post Pugh's response, including Glamour. If it weren't for Pugh's clarification on the matter, it's hard to say if anyone would have ever noticed the altered photos. Even when I looked at them myself and knew they had been altered it was hard to say in what way. Fake images are easy to make and even easier to spread.
Who decides what really happened?
While in the above story there was a definitive truth that could be cleared up with just a few images, that is not always the case with stories that we see online. One of the readings this week by The Atlantic spoke about how destructive it can be to share viral videos. The video in question in their article was of students from a Kentucky high school that wore make America great again hats. The students were standing in front of a group of indigenous leaders who were protesting. When the video first came out the students from the high school were called racist and condemned for their actions. However, as a longer video of the interaction surfaced later in the week, it became clear there was more to the interaction. The difficult thing is that, though the real video surfaced, it was still difficult to tell what was happening and with conflicting views from each side involved, the "truth" never really came.
Why even keep trying to read the news?
With the potential for fake news and false images to be thrown in your face by the news, the conclusion is that maybe it's easier to just avoid the news. Spend your time online looking at things you enjoy that don't make you angry or upset, but that would be a mistake. Giving in to those emotions only lets the people who put false claims out there win. So, if we don't want to leave the conversation, but we also don't want to be a part of spreading fake news or being susceptible to it, what is there to do?
An article posted by The Conversation explores how the best thing to do might actually be nothing. If you come across something that is fake don't share it or spend your time disliking it on Facebook. If it's possible to report it directly then do so, but other than that, simply move on. The more time people spend posting things to expose them as not true, only creates more space for the story to grow. Now people who may never have seen the story are seeing it and disagreeing with your view that it is fake. The best thing to do squash fake articles, deep fakes, photoshopped images and more it to ignore them.
Instead of posting links directly to photos or articles we should be posting links to sights like FactCheck or Politifact. These sites both attempt to help people sort through popular news that might be taken out of context, old and resurfacing or just down right untrue.
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