Fake news is a term that has been thrown around quite often specifically in the last seven years.
Whenever a story is published that people may disagree with in some way, they are quick to label it as “fake news,” especially if its negatively Trump-related. In most of these cases. People are using the term in the wrong way, and not actually obtaining an understanding of what it actually means.
Although fake news definitely exists, it is not as rampant as some might try to make people believe. To me, fake news is any form of news that deliberately tries to make you believe something that is legitimately false. Fake news is not the true reporting that has been done about Trump’s misdeeds or the misdeeds of any other politicians in the past who have thrown the term around.
I agree with the definitions of the term that are provided in the book “Mobile and Social Journalism” by Anthony Adornato. I feel that so long as there is an intent to fool people into believing something is true, fake news is a valid term to describe a piece of journalism.
An important role that is necessary to be filled in the war to combat the spread of real fake news is that of different tech companies. Every social media platform should have a built-in fact checker of some sort; something that will automatically check everything that is uploaded. Fake news spreads like a wildfire on social media. While the different platforms are not necessarily to blame, they should take some level of responsibility and commit to making their networks less occupied by those who aspire to make people believe lies.
The best way to combat the spread of fake news on a large scale is to put a much greater emphasis on teaching media literacy to people, both young and old. When I was in high school, I received the bare minimum of media literacy teaching. I had to take it upon myself to figure out what was fact or fiction. Since I knew that I wanted to become a journalist as my career in life, I felt it was necessary for me to obtain at least a basic understanding of what is real news, what is fake news and how to differentiate between the two. I am extremely glad that I did too because it has given me the opportunity to keep a watchful eye on news that may try to fool friends and family into getting them to believe and spread them.
How important is media literacy to you? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
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