Fake News Controversy

Everyday, billions of people read websites, magazines, newspapers, or watch television segments so they are informed on what is happening in the world. The news is something that so many people rely on and check constantly. What people aren’t aware of however, is that so much of what they are being told is a lie. False news is a growing and constant issue in today’s society. Fake news spreads rapidly, changing people's views on the world constantly. However, putting an end to this media trend has proved to be a struggle.

The media controls many thoughts and facts given to the public that may or may not be true. With the Internet at fingertips across the world, news spreads faster with little evidence provided. Over the last century, the world’s speed increased with news inventions such as cars, electronics, and the Internet. Society’s mindset transformed from hard working to free handouts; therefore, when news sources make a statement, humankind believes it without researching the topic at all. Sometimes, news reporters make legitimate statements that are misinterpreted by readers. The words of the writer are at fault for perspective or understanding of news rather than the interpretation the readers obtain.

News are more than just facts and information, it is knowledge that affects a human’s life by helping them stay up-to-date. News have the influence to communicate and aid an individual's outcome on how to make decisions. With that being, in today’s society there are thousands of media outlets around the world. Despite that media plays a major role in one’s life, often times publishers revise the truth and intertwine the event which ultimately has a major impact on the perspective and opinions that people possess as they get manipulated by these news outlets.By examining the event of the September 11 attacks (9/11) from the perspective of “The Guardian” and “The Los Angeles Times”, one can determine the similarities, differences, and the “truth”

Fake news is news that does not tell the entire truth about a story or reports it wrong or simply lies. Fake news could also be reporting news and commentary indistinctly, and not make a clear enough distinction between the two. Alternative facts is another branch of the fake news tree. What exactly is alternative facts? No one is sure what these two words mean, so confusion was widespread, when an advisor to the president stated it in reference to the president’s crowd at the inauguration. CQR mentions this sort of debacle again when an aide is outed for giving the president a cover for a magazine which mentions an ice age that was fake, instead of global warming. The aide justified said actions by arguing that it was “fake, but true.” Media trust is an issue today because, many of news sources have political affiliations and commitments to political organizations. Also the people who finance these are devoted or interested which may lead to inaccurate reporting. Also, some news companies are obsessed with pushing a certain narrative to its viewers in order to further their party’s reach. This a huge problem, because some of the places we look to being informed are actually just trying to change your mind politically rather than report unbiased facts. When you take a look at certain news sites, you normally see negative things painted in a normal light, or as less evil, in reference to the site’s interests. Essentially it is given a spin, towards the news’ preferred

In today’s society, author of “Low Definition in Higher Education” Lyell Asher explains how students tend to find a shortcut to get their school work done as painlessly as possible. These students then become predisposed to carry this ideality throughout their entire life. As a result, it becomes more and more difficult for them to immediately decipher whether or not the media or the people around you speak the truth and nothing but the truth. Yet, others continue to believe the first thing they hear without further research on the subject matter. Author Jacob Soll’s  discusses this phenomenon in his article, “The Long and Brutal History of Fake News”. Soll providesan insight on the continuing existence of fraudulent news reportings

Based on one’s beliefs, news can have many different definitions. When determining how news is published, editors take four factors into consideration; Universal News Drivers, Editorial and Audience Judgment, and “Bad” News. When determining which factors apply to articles, one may examine the characteristics of these articles and then make an informed decision about which concepts apply and why. On October 15th I visited the newseum.org website and examined the front pages from three separate newspaper’s. All of the different front pages featured different headlines. The stories from these headlines featured information that I could use to apply the previously mentioned concepts.

The media in today’s society is constantly filtered by bias news reporters that are leaning more towards a conservative point of view or a more liberal point of view. However, despite this circumstance, there is still hope in the media to seek the truth. In order to evaluate the information that is provided by the mainstream media there is a tool that John McManus calls a SMELL test. This simple test helps viewers depict the facts from the fallacies and as well of seeing the producers intentions. Truth in today's media is difficult to identify because news producers are only sharing their political opinions rather than share pure facts. Broadcast networks also fail in providing points of views from both a conservative and a liberal point of

News media outlets are now driven based on the biased nonfactual information.The media’s standards of credibility are continuously decreasing making it difficult to encounter reliable sources. Many would like to blame the public's inability to distinguish factual information from opinions, but the media ultimate goal and responsibility to the public is to provide factual information which they are failing to do so.

Many people believe that if it is on the internet, then it must be true and for this reason, the media utilizes this train of thought as a way to manipulate how individuals purchase products, view people, and vote for candidates. Internet bloggers and the news media often have biases that distorts news broadcasts and cyber posts as well as allow a platform for absolute deceit. While this practice is more proliferated in cyberspace, it mimics yellow journalism in the 1800’s that help publishers attract large audiences and increase advertising revenues.

Dramatizing the facts of a breaking news story has become a repetitive action seen in today’s media attention after a 2003 Florida appeals court granted Fox 25 News the right to distort information broadcasted to the public. Almost to conclude that major news stations hire professional actors to recite the news verse report it. The reality of this problem is that media sells and viewers fall victim daily to endless lies to exaggerate a current event and its happenings. A fact checking website similar to Politifact collected evidence that infamous Fox 25 News statistically reported 18% of the truth in their stories, with only 8% included to be completely true facts. CNN a top competitor has been proven to use truthful information averaging at 60% (Clifton, Allen. "Fact-Checking Site Finds Fox News Only Tells the Truth 18 Percent of the Time). But which portions of the truth are reporters legally allowed to comment on? If news channels are given the right to falsify the truth and report lies to viewers, is there an underlying truth that viewers are not being told? Because news media stations are granted the permission to skew facts, news deception has become a leading factor in the media business, which in return generates higher ratings that lead to confusion and corruption of the current happenings in the real world.

News is everywhere. It’s on TV, in newspapers, on phones, and on computers. Some may say that it’s inescapable. Lately, a whole new type of news has begun circulating without much of a second glance. This form of news, referred to as “fake news”, contains fraudulent or misleading information that masquerades itself as real news. While some believe that fake news is easy to discern from real news, that is not the case. Because of this, the circulation of fake news has real and significant political consequences. The most obvious and relevant of these consequences is the election of the forty fifth president of the United States.

Journalists are often confronted with the ethical and moral dilemmas of producing accurate, yet interesting stories. They must be responsible with their reporting, but at the same time keep the public interest high in order to be successful. It is suspected the propaganda has been around as long as freedom of expression.

During his speech at the Energy Department on June 29th, the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump attacked CNN on its news “about decades-old fears the U.S. was running out of oil, saying ‘it was fake’” (Fabian). The phrase “fake news” has become a common phase in every news about President Trump. Since his inauguration, the president has called several media, including NBC, ABC, CBS, and The New York Times, fake (Stossel). Fake news has a strong impact on our lives, misleading us in a certain way. It is also widespread, as “the internet has provided a low-cost distribution channel for fake news” (Rouse). This brings up the debate of to what extent we encounter fake news in our lives. John Stossel has an answer to this in his article “Fake News”. Through his connection with the audience along with his use of language and logical examples, Stossel effectively persuades his conservative American audience that fake news is prevalent in an unprecedented manner.

Since the beginning of our individual life, we are guided by those elders with prior experience of life. As we age throughout life, we acquire our knowledge through people with a certain profession. Although this is reliable to a certain extent, we are sometimes misguided in understanding the truth by relying in other folks’ status in their profession. Questioning many professions, journalism or any social media has taking the biggest blow of them all. In the past year or so, the topic of Fake News has aroused many individuals around the world. Most News around the world have been exposed to be corrupt and portraying fake news to viewers for personal gain. Since we are brought into this world trusting peoples profession, we are convinced that the news provided is accurately and truthful. Plato’s the theory of education with the focus on the allegory of the cave supports how blindness and no education can affect your knowledge.

Paul Perumatti Mrs Sherry Sharifian GOVT-2305-71063 30 November 2017 Fake News Fake news could be found anywhere on the internet and social media. Fake news is a false story that tries to catch people’s eye and tries to grab the public’s attention. Fake news became harder to notice because some fake news articles can be kind of relatable and real. People, who go on the internet and social media, cannot tell whether, if the news is fake or real. To tell the difference between fake news and real news, one must be able to check the source, know about the article, and check if it is satire.