If you have ever scrolled through the internet and came across a news article that seemed just too outrageous to be true, you were most likely reading a “Fake News” article. Fake news is “news” made up by journalists in order to make people be influenced in a certain way. It often causes people’s opinions get swayed without any real evidence, and no one knows what to believe. This is a common issue during things like political campaigns and elections because people are able to create a false news article about a candidate from their unpreferred political party in order to make them look bad. So how can you be able to tell when news is factual, or when it is simply “Fake News”?
The first giveaway for spotting fake news can be found within the title. If it seems as if it is using an absurd amount of exclamation marks, question marks, or “OMG”s, most likely, it is fake news. Also, if the title seems way too crazy to even be true, then odds are it probably isn’t. This is called “clickbait”, and it is when journalists stretch the truth in their article titles in order to get more views. It is also extremely important to take note of the source that the article is coming from. For example, sites like “The Onion” are known for often posting fake news articles, while sites like “The Washington Post” are usually pretty reliable. You should always keep eye out for articles that don’t have an author listed, because that is a red flag that the article is fake, and they don’t want to take credit for it. When dealing with online news, it is important to be critical of every source and look for these warning signs before trusting them.
(Written by Meghan Smith)
Fake news is also seen through gossip about celebrities. This can sometimes cause havoc as super fans of certain celebrities might believe such rumors flying around.
Checkout the video below to know how to spot fake new in five easy ways…
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