How Does Fake News Impact Content Credibility Fake news is on the rise. Content appears in abundance through the media. For instance, in the United States, citizens have the constitutional right to freedom of expression, specifically freedom of the press. Because of this, we now live in an opinion-driven society, more than ever before. Anything said, seen, or heard, whether it was done in the public or behind closed doors, has the potential to be published, go viral in the media, and be subjected to public scrutiny. Even worse, news is being published that is completely fictitious. How do these fake stories affect the consumer? A poll was included in a Pew Research Center article published in December of 2016 titled: Many Americans Believe Fake News Is Sowing Confusion. The poll indicates that 64% of U.S. Adults believe that fake news is on the rise. Those adults were confused, not knowing whether to believe the stories or not, because in some cases the stories at least seemed plausible. However, in other cases, the stories were as bizarre as an article published in the National Enquirer. Talk about credibility… Ha! Highlighted in the same article, 23% of Americans admit that they have shared fabricated news stories both knowingly and unknowingly. Lately, on social media, rumors and …show more content…
CN2 News was there to cover the story. Journalist Vilma Betacourt explained why fake news has become widespread in mainstream media during a video recording at the meeting. She states: “The public doesn’t know the difference sometimes, because they don’t have the time to do the research.” Betacourt overall believes that people are busy with other things which leaves them little time to research the accuracy of any media content they come across. What happened to credibility? And how does fake news impact content
Through manipulation and lies, media manages to modify objective news into biased news in order to convince the public of what the media wants them to believe. The article, “How the Media Twist the News”, by Sheila Gribben Liaugminas discusses the major influence that news has on readers based on their choice of stories and words. “How the Media Twists the News” has borrowed from multiple other texts such as the books like Public Opinion and Liberty and News, news magazine writers such as Ruderman, and news networks like CBS through Bias, A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News and CNN to make her arguments valid and prove that the news is biased and that it does influence readers significantly because of it.
Fox news has been known to have controversies on whether or not they can be trusted, and where they stand in certain situations, stirring many articles and researchers to determine their reliability. It has been researched that approximately sixty percent of all “facts” reported by Fox news are false (Mintpress News Desk). The Network has become one of the biggest sources that lie to the public, beating numbers even from CNN and MSNBC. A poll from the Pew Research Center Project for Excellence in Journalism was determining the percentage of commentary/opinion and factual reporting for three different news groups: Fox, CNN, and MSNBC. Fox news has been shown to be forty-five percent factual reporting, but fifty-five
In his essay, “The Good, The Bad, and The Daily Show,” Jason Zinser explores the vices and virtues of so-called “fake” news programs. “Fake” news, as Zinser explains, are those programs that blend newsworthy events with comedy. By examining The Daily Show, Zinser reveals both positive and negative impacts that “fake” news could have on society. As a result, Zinser concludes that there are benefits as well as potential problems with “fake” news programs but insists that the true challenge is determining the net impact on society. The essay, which first appeared in The Daily Show and Philosophy: Moments of Zen and the Art of Fake News in 2007, challenges experts on both sides of the argument who either claim fake news is for entertainment only or that fake news is an acceptable source for information on current events. On one hand, Zinser uses expert testimonies to support his argument that the end result is a better informed public but on the other, he makes logical arguments enhanced by examples to illustrate the potential impacts “fake” news can have on its viewers and mainstream media.
Gallup a survey company conducted an analysis on Americans' distrust in the media. The result showed that in the year 2012, it hit to a new high, with 60% saying they have little or no trust in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly. Distrust is up from the past few years, when Americans were already more negative about the media than they had been in years prior to 2004.
Although this brings attention to whatever happened it's resulting in people becoming less educated because of their point of view. If one side of the argument is being supported more than another the people that are less educated around this subject are just going to follow. People become more selective to what they hear or see that they don't refer to the other side of the argument because their so strongly opinionated about what they think. Today fake news is mostly in elections, something gets sent out that the citizens want to hear and brings them more followers. Although its an easy way to get attention it's makes it seem like nothing is wrong or nothing bad is going to happen. People get so caught up about what they hear that it can result in someone getting elected that is bad, which people don't know because they were covering it up. The use for fake news in present day has more negative effects than positive and is still shown in 1984 that it's not beneficial to the society, so the occurrence of it now should stop because its starting to become a concern to our
Another reason why people, especially publishers, might find fake news appealing is from the amount of money they can earn from something that is not true. In the first article, it states, “When you click or share a story, the person or company that created the site gets money. This money comes from advertisers who pay sites based on the number of views their ads get. That’s the point of shocking or outrageous headlines: to get you to click,” (Lewis, 11). This means that, for every outrageous news story that is clicked on, whether it is real or fake, it gets a lot of money. Anyone can become rich from starting a fake news business, and that is what many find appealing about the business. All in all, whether it be the thrill of telling a story, or doing it for the money, there are always people who are interested in the fake news
Social media is a revolutionary way to connect with friends and family through a single app, much like Facebook. Also allowing the public to be more informed on current events, whether that is an issue in today’s society, all the way to a heartwarming story or a funny video. This sounds amazing and the fact that this type of news outlet is practically new. An issue arises that involves “fake news” and with that comes many opinions on what to do about it. I believe that people browsing these platforms should have a little bit of skepticism behind each story and if the topic truly intrigues someone then they should look into the topic on a reliable resource before passing on the authors misinformation.
Shraddha Khanal GOVT 2305 Professor Sharifian 29th November 2017 Fake News In order to spot fake news, consider the source. Is the source reputable or satirical?
It is possible for an individual to read through stories and very easily disregard them due to doubt that the story could most probably be a fake story (Wall Street Journal, 2016). To ensure that individuals remain legitimately informed, it is important to make sure that we get our information from sources which have already been proven to be credible for example BBC and CNN. Fake news is not a recent thing and it is not at all something that is as a result of election cycles. Lies on news headlines have been a thing forever.
Wolper, Allan. “Ethics Corner: Did Critical Media Send Dean Packing?” Editor & Publisher March 2004: 25.
Are we receiving information accurately, with details being simple to understand? After further research on media framing, I’ve come to realize that it is not rare to be someone who is skeptical of the news. In decades before now, the media did a better job serving the public interests inside their news stories (Callaghan, 2001, p.186). But now, journalists may mix up facts intentionally and build a different story (Callaghan, 2001, p. 184). How can one feel safe after knowing the media changes stories to keep us interested?
Nowadays the media have transformed its main mission of reporting news that actually happened in an accurate and objective way into covering stirring and controversial issues as news stories due to capitalistic motives. Moreover, today’s media took the motto “If it bleeds it leads” as a criteria to report any story. The aim of following this motto was to achieve high viewership rates and as a result gain more advertisers which will ultimately increase the profits. However, this motto changed the media from reporting facts into reporting sensational-fearful news. Thus, this paper will demonstrate the effects of sensational news, and how the media plays on the cultivation theory using sensationalism to increase viewers.
The introduction of the internet to modern society has brought about a new age of information relation. Since there is no longer a need to wait until the next print day, news from all over the world is available at a person’s fingertips within hours or even minutes of the event. With this advent of such easily accessible information, new problems for the news media have also arisen. Aside from potentially losing good economic standing because newspapers are no longer being purchased in the quantities they used to be, the credibility of the information itself is also put into question. No one would argue that credibility of news sources is unimportant, but there is a discrepancy in what takes precedence; economy and speed or getting the information out correctly at the first publishing by taking the time to make sure all facts are checked. The importance of having a system of checks on all information submitted is paramount. People trust what they read and believe it to be so without always questioning. If all information were to not be checked thoroughly, there would be instances where people read an article only for information included to be wrong and they go on believing such information. This can be very dangerous as misinformed people make misinformed decisions. With an increase in errors being made by citizen bloggers and even major publications, many are worried that journalistic ethics and credibility in the news media are being sacrificed in order to maintain swiftness in the news circuit and to retain personal profits. Though getting information to the masses quickly is a major part of the media’s importance, this should not mean that the credibility of that information being presented should be sacrificed for it...
Fake News is constantly being written, permeating through television broadcasts, internet sites, and magazine articles. It seems that the amount of false news in the world is starting to overtake the amount of genuine information. This is indeed a problem, but not as much as people make it out to be. This is for a few reasons. Fake news is much like bacteria, there are both beneficial and harmful types of fake news. Beneficial fake news is usually
...stence depends upon continued success in furnishing readers and listeners with a wide range of facts,” said reporter Julian Adams. By the public depending on media for information, they are making the media money. Buying newspapers and magazines are compensating those companies. Listening to your local radio station and watching your local news channel is compensating those companies. “Staging (fabrication) or deliberate distortion of news is against public interest,” said writer William B. Ray. Society believes in media and the media believes in the society. So let the society know the real data and what’s important. Knowing what’s important captures the public’s interest rather than knowing what’s fake. Falsifying News is legal meaning the media is allowed to lie to the public. Everyone has their own views on this topic but either way lying to the society is wrong.