The Fitgomery: A Short Story

With the recent explosion of social media, many rely heavily, often excessively, on the internet for their news about the world. While being bombarded with fabricated stories and corrupted facts, the public struggles to find the actual truth, creating an entirely new realm of responsibility for journalists. They are forced to delve deeper than ever before, beyond comfort, in order to superficially scratch the surface of truth. This practice of exploitation and rooted research was coined “muckraking” by Theodore Roosevelt during a speech in 1906. While this term had carried a negative connotation for decades, Jessica Mitford, the late investigative journalist, transformed that perspective and graciously accepted the title “Queen of the Muckrakers”. Mitford was correct in her prideful title, as muckrakers have fulfilled a valuable role in the creation of policy over time, as well as acting as an integral component in modern day media, full of deception and bias.

In article "The Fake News President", Progressive political comic's author Will Durst professes, "When a reporter pointed out the discrepancy, Trump dismissed him with, 'Well, I don't know, I was given that information.' Presumably by the same people who told him he won the debates, enjoys widespread popularity, and has accomplished

But a newspaper reporter, instead of holing up in isolation, was in touch with the rest of the world. What the reporter wrote influenced what people thought about and talked about the next day; he knew what was really going on. I decided I wanted to be one of the people who knew what was really going on”(204).

It was late December 1963 at Montgomery manor. Thunder is booming in the distance. Philip Montgomery is lounging in his blue rocking chair by the fire. The clock strikes 12, a light cool breeze extinguishes the fire Philip Montgomery hears his door slam shut. He panics, yelling for help Fredrick dashes down and finds Philip unconscious with a large bump on the side of his head with a slight cut on his left wrist. “Oh gosh! Philip! Philip wake up. Oh gosh, what am I to do?” Frederick frantically searched for someone to help him. He found a maid. He explained what had happened while dragging her down the hall towards the room. “Did you call the police? What do you want me to do?” The maid stuttered. They heard the wailing of the sirens in the

Being trusted by millions of people is more than an honor or privilege, but rather it is a power of immense impact. It is a force that shapes the nation, for better or worse. As much good a journalism can create, it also used to deceive the masses and incite unrest. Recently, an article circle Facebook sites. The title was FBI Agent Found Dead in a Murder Suicide. It was published in an apparently-legitimate website. Truth is, it was a fake article published in a website meant to confuse readers. Many similar websites and articles had been created by the author Jestin Coler. At first, his motivations were heroic, trying to highlight the “failed” American government. During the 2016 elections, fake news about the candidates went rampant. Coler had 20 to 25 writers working for him publishing article after article of slander and propaganda for either party. Some of the articles published reached 1.5 million views in just ten days. Coler makes anywhere from $10 thousand to $30 thousand every month from ad revenue of people who visit his fake news sites. Despite his initial good intentions, Coler willingly deceived readers into believing outlandish claims simply because it was published in a “news

Without checking his sources Mr. Rather reported this over the air and to the American public. The White House demanded an apology from Mr. Rather because of the false report from an unknown source and was forced to retract the report as erroneous. An example of this is evident in the article ?Left Out?? written by William McGowan for the American Journalism Review. The article surrounds the issue of a liberal media bias being entangled with the Democratic Party. McGowan states ?16% of US journalists claim to be conservative, the rest are either independent or liberal? (Left Out? American Journalism Review). This fact should not come as a shocking development to most Americans because this bias has reared its head many times over the past decade and a half. Each major urban area has at least one newspaper that will report the news. However, some urban markets, such as Baltimore, have only one major newspaper.

Thesis: Dissemination of news through social media allows for rapid distribution and incredible accessibility, but can lead to decreased understanding, stifled discussion, and even the propagation of fake news stories.

In light of this topic, Buzzfeed’s reliability has come into question on whether or not it’s a trustworthy source for information. The new generation website known as Buzzfeed provides stories and entertainment that are important to day-to-day life and aim to have an impact on their reader’s

A study conducted in 2013 by Pew Research found out that 72 percent of Americans get their news from a mobile device. This created a major concern with the credibility of the news that Americans read due to the fact that there are many websites that post news satire. News satire is a false accusation made to scheme the audience into believing some type of hoax. These stories generate major problems for those who are political figures, threatening their legitimacy and even harming their reputations. Every single day people are exposed to fake news, whether that be on Facebook, Twitter, or directly on news sites and “According to Pew Research, 66 percent of Facebook users said they get news from the site” (“Probe Reveals Stunning”…). These false

When your best friend asks you to be maid of honor, it should be a dream come true. But not for Ava Montgomery, especially when her best friend, Sage, is marrying the man Ava fell in love with so many years ago. The second Ethan Buchanan stepped back into her life was the moment she died and came back to life all over again. As if things couldn't get any worse, she runs out of paychecks and gets stuck with Ethan until the wedding. With numerous hours spent with her best friend's fiancé, Ava can't imagine what's to come in the next couple of

In today’s society, remaining connected and knowledgeable of current events and the newest trends is vital to staying ahead in business, education, and social standing. This information is supplied to everyone through the internet, newspapers, television, and radio. One can tune into stations such as CNN, NBC, Fox News, Al-Jazeera, and many others (“SQs of Media Outlets”). In order to meet the needs of viewers, readers, and listeners, the ideal media system would contain accurate, quick information, with a purely impartial view on the facts as they are known. However, this modern media system has not maintained an objective view, pushing opinionated and slanted reporting onto the population in order to create profit and gain customers. The exploitation of information media for personal gain has created a toxic and inaccurate present, constant in today’s society.

What was astonishing was not the rapidity of the news- that is, after all, the beauty of modern broadcasting technology- but the effect that the news had on the public. In the following weeks and months, story after story demonstrated the

The recent surge in popularity of social media comes with a price: fake news. Fake news is defined as news or media that has been altered or modified. Journalists have begun to analyze why that fake news exists and why it continues exist. Two authors, Eoin O’Carroll and Kevin D. Williamson, both have written articles about fake news. Eoin O’Carroll’s article “How Information Overload Helps Spread Fake News,” discusses how the media has bombarded us with news stories, blurring the distinct lines between real and fake news. Kevin D. Williamson, a journalist for the National Review, writes in his article “‘Fake News, Media and Voters: Shared Reality Must Be Acknowledged” that the news is not fake; it just does not align with one’s personal beliefs. Both authors successfully appeal to their audiences’ emotions and feelings, but O’Carroll is more likely to succeed than Williamson in persuading his audience to try and combat fake news because the writer presents himself as someone the intended readers will more readily identify with and offers evidence that his readers will find more compelling.

Out of the variety of news sources such as TV, radio, or newspapers, one of the popular sources in today’s world is social media. People are getting addicted to and can’t live without social media such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. They use social media as of where they can post their status but also where they can receive a lot of different news. While social media are spreading any kinds of news such as trend, celebrity or even politics, people easily get the information that is not true called “fake news.” The fake news raises the major problem in social media as the news source. Once people see the news, they tend to believe and share it. Liking can spread out fake news in a second. When people like the news, the activity

As the world evolves and changes due to the explosion of technology, so does mankind's ways of intellectual comprehension of informative news. The present day of news has overemphasized the meaning of fake news; which represents any form of false information that is illustrated as factual news. That tends to spread throughout the internet and the media. Misinformed news has taken over the world in so many ways, such as the birth of satirical and sketchy news, the financial motivation to publish actual false news, and difficult to sustain news.