Fake news and misinformation

Fake news is generally classified as information that presents itself as being true, but is in fact false or misleading. With such an abundance of news sites online it can often be difficult to ascertain the veracity of these various sources, and we must all strive to be perceptive and critical consumers of content, if we are to avoid being duped.

One of the wonderful things about the internet is that anyone can self publish, with just a click we can make available to a worldwide audience any artwork or text we have composed. While this ease of promulgation is extremely liberating, it carries with it the danger that the content we consume may not be as truthful as we believe.

There are many different types of fake news, ranging from malicious information deliberately designed to mislead you, to simple sloppy journalism, where incorrect facts are presented as truth due to the inattentiveness of the writer. Clickbait is perhaps the most common type of fake news, with sensationalist headlines, often containing alluring or shocking images, being designed to snare the viewer`s attention, and enticing them to click and navigate to another page - to take the bait.

Propaganda, biased news, or downright lies are all other forms fake news may take. One would like to think that the intention of anyone publishing a news story online is simply to disseminate the truth; but the reality is there are those whose intentions are to distort a news-story, to lace it with their own bias, even if that means distorting the facts. Admittedly many writers will be unaware they are doing this when writing a piece, but a great many individuals (and organisations) will have the resolute intention of minimising (or not mentioning at-all) certain aspects of one story, and amplifying (or even completely inventing) other parts to fit their narrative and political beliefs.

How can you protect yourself from fake news? How can you be sure the content you are reading or watching is legitimate, and not spurious? The following points may help you differentiate between that which is credible, and that which is specious.

1. Who is actually providing the information?

Is the content being provided by a legitimate organisation, an established news outlet? Or is it the work of a single individual, posting it form their social media page? Established and venerable media organisations will be bound within a legal framework, employing only those reporters who are practiced to see both sides of a story, and put their personal opinions aside when writing an article. An individual posting a story from their social media account or website will not be subject to the same editorial standards as someone working within a legitimate news organisation. They will be free to put whatever spin they want on a story, manipulating the facts to suit their own agenda.

2. Check the story from multiple sources

If a news story interests you try to assess it from as many sources as you can. Don`t take all your information from just one website, or one individual. The truth will be the same when seen from any angle, it will not alter with perspective, nor change with time.

3. Check the rest of the website

After reading a report on a website you would do well to see what other information they have published. Any bias they have will be easier to detect after a thorough investigation of other stories they are hosting.

Social media sites have an insidious way of reinforcing our beliefs, whether they be true or not. In order to keep their users logged in and browsing content for a long as possible (and expose them to more lucrative advertising) many sites will feed stories their AI algorithms have determined concur with the user`s beliefs. That means if you have previously sought out news stories which declare the moon landings were faked, you may see similar articles appearing on your social media accounts. Of course it could be argued that there are legitimate reasons for this: you are simply being supplied with information that is believed to be of interest to you. The danger however is that you will keep being fed stories that reinforce your beliefs, and denied content that challenges them.

In this age of 24 hour news we must be more vigilant than ever, more discriminating and critical than previous generations. Misinformation may have more value today than any time in history. As Mark Twain said: `a lie can travel around the world and back again while the truth is lacing up its boots.`