I recently asked my Facebook community what they fear. One of the friends who wrote back said “I fear fake news; not for its contents, but for its effects on the population.” True dat. Though some still deny the impact of fake news in the recent presidential election (really?!) there is no question it has real life consequences. The clearest example of this came on Dec 4, 2016 when Edgar Welch walked into a D.C. pizzeria and lit the place up with an AR 15. The hacked emails of John Podesta included a mention of Comet Ping Pong pizzeria, which conspiracy theorists somehow interpreted to be code for a child sex trafficking organization run by Bill and Hillary Clinton in the back room of that restaurant. Here is an article published the month before the shooting. It is alarming to read the comments following it and observe first hand the conviction displayed by those who believed the premise. http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/food/blog/20840980/alt-right-conspiracy-theorists-obsess-over-comet-ping-pong Certainly no half intelligent person would believe such a crazy tale (and you can bet the purveyors of these articles will claim so in their defense. “The fault does not lie in our spreading of ridiculous stories, your honor, but in the stupidity of the people who actually believe them”) but the continuum of intellect runs a broad spectrum in any population and there will always be those who believe everything they read. “I just wanted to do some good and went about it the wrong way,” Edgar Welch, 28, told a reporter from the New York Times, adding: “I regret how I handled the situation.” In other words “My bad.”
A brief history of Fake News.
There are three unrelated developments that came together in recent years to create what will surely be known as the golden age of fake news. Separately they are the Iron, carbon, and manganese of everyday life. But collectively these elements resulted in a metal so precious it could give an Alchemist a wet dream. Fake news.
The first trend was the political segmentation of America. Though we have always been a people of differing views, it has never been so easy to silence the voice of those with whom you disagree. Once voting districts were gerrymandered into clubs of political purity the candidates for those districts no longer had to cheat their way toward middle ground. Indeed, voters insisted that these candidates represent the farthest point of their respective doctrine, believing such rigidity was the only answer to the extreme representatives elected by the opposing party. Moderates were vaporized and from their smoke emerged a league of unblinking certainty merchants. Before long the news channels split off into left or right-leaning perspectives, which allowed viewers to only hear the ideas they already agreed with. Then social media helped people form up in groups, further insulating themselves by booting dissenters in a McCarthy-like purge. As a result, the two political extremes came to know very little about one another …which made it easy to sell a lie about one party to members of the other. And we gobbled it up, happy to accept any information that reinforced our white-hot hatred.
Meanwhile, the business of the internet was evolving. Content became the name of the game because providers could get paid for every click their article generated. At first it was cute cat videos and people doing dumb stunts. The ads that appeared in these features paid the freight. Next the news outlets joined the game, posting a short clip of their best story or article each day. Then non-news people started posting headlines that promised much more than the article delivered, purely for the sake of getting readers to click on it—-what came to be known as “click bait”. From there fake news was just a few steps away, featuring provocative headlines and a story that delivered on its promise, even if it was entirely made up.
The final trend involved a slow devaluation of facts, leading President Obama at one point to exclaim “facts just don’t seem to matter anymore.” Concerted efforts were exercised to block or deny scientific testimony in Congress, the CDC was forbidden from studying gun-related deaths, and “agree to disagree” became the settling point wherever truth met ignorance. Opinions gathered like cream at the top of each bucket of truth, and reality was crushed beneath the weight of personal liberty.
So there you have it; An easily targeted group could be exploited for profit and they really didn’t mind the exploitation. Fake news.
Here is a link to an excellent podcast done by Planet Money of NPR Finding the fake news king. In this 15 minute piece they actually track down one of the guys who created much of the fake news circulated throughout the presidential election. He made over $30,000 a month pumping that crap out and doesn’t feel an ounce of remorse.
What we can do.
Back to the fear. Sardine Safety is all about pushing back against fear and my Facebook friend is fearful of fake news and the existential threats it represents. I think we can agree this threat is real and, unchecked, will lead us all down a very dark path. So the next question is “What can we do about it?”
Learn to recognize fake news. You might think you’re already good at this. You might be wrong. Click here to take a 10 question quiz including both true and fake stories that saw wide readership during the election. See if you can sort them out.
Here is a list, compiled by Professor Melissa Zimdars of Merrimack College in Massachusetts , of known purveyors of fake news. Zimdars subsequently received threats for publishing this. Such are the power and money at stake.
4 Politicops (aka Newslo, Politicalo)
5 RealNewsRightNow.com (Also includes intentional satire)
6 Infowars.com (Includes a mix of conspiracy theories and real news)
7 RileNews.com (Appears to have stopped publishing in December)
8 CivicTribune.com (Hasn't updated in over a year)
10 CreamBMP.com
12 DCGazette.com (Appears to have stopped publishing in November)
13 NewsMutiny.com (Includes fake news and satire)
18 Associated Media Coverage (aka the Seattle Tribune)
24 Nutbar Factor (Includes mix of real news)
25 Trump Insurrection (Includes mix of real news)
Check the source!
Before you click on a headline, before you allow your blood pressure to start rising, and absolutely before you share something——CHECK THE SOURCE! The source is usually featured in the lower left corner of the headline (just below the photo) in faded font. If any of the above listed sites appear you know the article is complete bullshit. Then go back up stream to whomever shared the article and, in the kindest way possible, point out that they have been duped and frankly you thought they were smarter than this. If there is no source listed you are absolutely looking at fake news. Credible sources always list themselves on their pieces. It’s how they garner readership and thus how they make money. No source? No read.
Fake News sites frequently abandon their names once the word gets out and pop up under a new moniker. So look for these clues
-A legitimate name with a little something extra in the address like politicousa.com. Politico is a well regarded news source that publishes Pulitzer Prize winning journalism at politico.com. Fake news merchants like to hitchhike on someone else’s credibility, and by adding usa to the title they direct readers to their own site full of rat crap.
-Something extra in the address. #3 on the above list is ABCnews.com.co. That co changes everything! The same is true for uk , us, or any number of other letters added to the end of an otherwise legitimate site address. You might be thinking “Hey, 90% of that title is legit so most of what I read there is solid.” You are an idiot.
- A surprising headline that somehow hasn’t been covered by the mainstream media. If there is breaking news to be had you can bet it won’t be scooped by some 7th grader clicking away during study hall. Just google a few key words from the title and include a reliable source ( i.e. Pope endorses NRA birth control ABC News). If the only thing that comes up is the same site that published the piece on your FB news feed then you’ve got a total corn dog.
- An author who clearly wants to hide his identity. I was checking out a fake news site a moment ago and found numerous features penned by someone named Dirtdawg. Unless he was born into a biker clan I seriously doubt you would find that name on his birth certificate. True journalists are proud to associate themselves with their work.
- Verify the story. snopes.com is a site dedicated to outing fake news, regardless of political target. Just type the title of your questionable article in the search bar of the snopes home page and wait for the truth bomb.
- An author who clearly wants to hide his identity. I was checking out a fake news site a moment ago and found numerous features penned by someone named Dirtdawg. Unless he was born into a biker clan I seriously doubt you would find that name on his birth certificate. True journalists are proud to associate themselves with their work.
- Verify the story. snopes.com is a site dedicated to outing fake news, regardless of political target. Just type the title of your questionable article in the search bar of the snopes home page and wait for the truth bomb.
Be that guy.
By now we all know fake news is a problem and most of us, myself included, have made the mistake of sharing a fake news article before properly vetting it. Some of us will start checking the articles shared among our friend groups while others can’t be bothered. But all it takes is one person within each FB group willing to call it out. Be that guy. Everyone will appreciate that you are making their group a safe space for truth. If you do your vetting properly the cumulative effect of your mounding credibility will lead to calls that you run for public office and ultimately…
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