Friday, October 27, 2017

How to Deal with Fake News

What is Fake News

Its definition is unclear and can vary based on whom you ask and it is used in an increasingly politicized ways across much of the world. Though its rise in notoriety is mainly a result of its prevalence in different social media platforms, it now has widespread significance for politics, journalism, and how people everywhere share information online.

Fake News is often from malicious clickbait sites whose intention is to circulate viral stories that generate large numbers of click-throughs to sell advertising. These sites generally appear as if it's mainstream news outlets, utilizing the same templates to simulate the appearance of major news sources.

The terminology Fake News was originally used to refer to stories that were wholly concocted, mainly for the purposes of deceiving Facebook's algorithm to reach a larger online audience. By using sensational headlines formed from popular current affairs and hot-button issues, these sites receive a lot of traffic and therefore generate high advertising revenues. with fake news sites, the money is made on the back of duplicity, clickbait and plagiarism.

These sites are also often expressly devised to delude and generate high volumes of traffic to spread misinformation and serve a purpose for specific groups with different agendas. Much of the Fake News that filled Social Media during the course of last year’s halalan season consisted of written pieces promoting false information or perpetuating propaganda with the purpose of distorting the truth for emotional persuasion or seeking to drive action.

In its purest form, Fake News is completely made up, manipulated to resemble credible journalism and attract maximum attention and, with it, advertising revenue or distorted public sentiment.

Its Impact
Misinformation can be challenging to rectify and may have lasting ramifications even after it is corrected. The result of all this misinformation isn’t merely ignorance. It can also incite grave consequences.

Fatimah Joy Almarez, Assistant Professor of the Mindanao State University and a resident of Iligan City shares her thought on the impact of Fake News in relation to the Marawi Siege. “Fake news is another form of terrorism. It adds fuel to an already volatile situation, feeding anxieties, and causing both panic and paralysis. I have friends who say they're too scared to go to crowded places, and just go home straight after work. There was an incident one afternoon when a close friend heard that a terrorist was on the loose and when he saw people running, he also ran, straight to his boarding house to bathe, pack up and go back to his hometown.”

She laments that “Now, our conversations are mostly about bomb threats and other attacks supposedly planned by the Maute group. Memos and screenshots of warnings are uploaded to convince everyone to be more vigilant, as if we need some more convincing”. She adds “a Maranao friend told me they share these reports of threats because before, they used to get like warnings, and just ignored them. And see where that got them”.

“I can't count the number of warnings I've received through private messaging and sms. I waited for bombs to explode last June 12, and ended up thanking God for the peace and quiet which pervaded my part of the city. A couple of times, I've been told that Maute supporters have been found near our place. Again, I wonder what on Earth I'm supposed to do with these news. I have come to a point when I've decided not to surrender my freedom to terror, so I'm trying to reclaim my life. I go where I need to go. I go out with friends. I've started walking home again. True, I do these things before 8.30 pm, in deference to the 9 pm curfew imposed within the city, but I still feel better now that I am winning over the bottomline of all these things: terrorism.”

The impact of fake news for the public is quite serious. This has a devastating consequence on people’s freedom to gain access to reliable information so that they can make informed decisions which affect their lives.

Moreover, the danger is that the decimation of fake news impacts the way that we appreciate and respond to actual news, both consciously or not. If being used as propaganda, often those spreading Fake News don’t care whether the readers really believe the specific thing they are spreading. They don’t have to get you to actually believe what you are reading. They just have to get you confused enough for your ability to distinguish the truth waivers, which is still deception. Faced with so much contradicting information, many people are prone to think that everything is biased, everything conflicts, that there is no way to get credible information. When the audience is conditioned to doubt everything they see in the news, it may lead to devaluation and destabilization of society’s system for information.

How it Spreads
Thousands of people share fake news, from the well meaning netizen to the deliberate ones. This is how Fake News is typically spread. Perhaps this is due to the riveting headlines in our feeds that makes it easier for us to share content rather than evaluate or even read it. Moreover, when people see an article shared by someone they know or trust, regardless if it is from unknown media source, people tend to have much more trust in the information than people who see the same article from a reputable media source shared by a person they do not know.

One more contributing factor, is confirmatory bias. People tend to easily accept information that conform with their beliefs and cast aside information that does not.

At the end of the day, we all should have a better understanding about Fake News. The root cause of this growth widely and rapidly is a lack of understanding. The public is unable to identify what their sharing is Fake News.

Spotting Fake News
Rocco Baldassarre, CEO of Zebra Advertisement specializing in Search Engine and Social Media Marketing Campaigns says "look at the url that hosts news to find out whether the source is reliable.” Fake News sites often try to deceive people by using a URL similar to that of an established news site. Check for suffixes or unexpected numbers or letters. Many fake news sites mimic authentic news sources by making minor changes to the URL.

Checkout the headlines. False news stories usually have overtly sensational headlines. If shocking claims in the headline sound inconceivable, they probably are.

Look into the sources and citations that the article provides. Ensure that the article is written by a source that you trust with a reputation for truthfulness. Authentic news stories will quote interviews, provide figures, and backup their claims with facts.

Fake news stories often use manipulated images or videos. Sometimes the photo may be authentic, but taken out of context. You can search for the photo or image to verify where it came from by right-clicking on the image and you will have the option to search Google for it.

Watch for odd formatting. Check for misspellings or awkward layouts. Read carefully if you see these signs. Look for signs of low quality, such as words in all caps, headlines with grammatical errors. Poor design often means the news site is not legitimate. Reputable sources have high proofreading and grammatical standards.

A number of Fake News sites state that they are fake or satirical. However, this information may be hidden in the fine print at the end 0of an article. Check whether the source is known for parody, and whether the story’s details and tone suggest it may be just for fun.

Look at other reports from established sites. If no other news source is reporting the same story, it may mean that the story is false.

Check a site's “Contact Us” and "About Us" section. Find out who are associated with it. If this information is not available and if the site requires that you register before you can learn anything about its, you have to wonder why they aren't being transparent. Read the “About Us” section for more understanding into the publisher, leadership, and mission statement.Genuine news website should provide a method for readers to reach out with questions or concerns. If a website does not have a “Contact Us” page, and no way to reach the author, the site is likely a fake.

Many people are unable to distinguish real news from Fake News, and those with vested interests are taking advantage of the situation. The creation and spread of Fake News and hoaxes on the Internet is money-oriented, politically-motivated or linked to other hidden agendas. We should all remember that news is not there to tell us what to believe. News exists to inform us. Though, journalists should have an obligation to uphold standards, readers and consumers have a responsibility as well. We're supposed to think critically when we get our news; not always putting the blame on fake news stories for misinforming us. We must take initiative in combating the spread of misinformation and have a proactive role in curbing the spread of this Fake News phenomenon that misleads and manipulate public opinion.