Yellow journalism, or “fake news,” is a serious problem today. We’re all living firmly within the information age and quickly learning how an irresponsible and wholly unregulated media can and does harm people. So I wrote this primer to help folks build their skeptical muscles as they’re forced to filter enormous amounts of information…
Here are some helpful terms to know:
- Misinformation: false information that is spread regardless of intent to mislead
- Disinformation: false information that is spread with an intent to mislead
- Sensationalism: the use of exciting or shocking stories or language at the expense of accuracy, in order to provoke public interest or excitement
- Propaganda: information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view
- Fake News: all of the above
As I wrote in a previous post about the media, news outlets are no longer motivated to provide credible content. Accordingly, it’s become increasingly important that people are able to distinguish what’s really going on in the world.
But that’s easier said than done!
I’d argue all generations prior to millennials were raised with very little education or experience surrounding the dangers of misinformation. This has created an environment where a large swathe of the population has not been innoculated against “fake news” and knows virtually nothing about sensationalist tactics, their own cognitive biases, and how politicians and corporations can twist or even make up (sometimes very convincing) facts for their own benefit.
Misinformation is becoming increasingly dangerous. In a republic, the people have the ultimate authority. If those people are misinformed, then policy will ultimately be the same. This hurts everyone! For example, vaccinations have saved (literally) millions of lives. The harmful and immoral anti-vax movement has caused seeds of doubt in the uneducated masses, meaning they’re less likely to get a vaccine, meaning they’re more likely to become ill and potentially die (and infect others, bringing them down with them and potentially causing more dangerous mutations of the disease).
The real danger of fake news, however, has been the discrediting of science and scientific institutions in general. Science is the reason we have smartphones, air conditioning, plentiful food, clean water, reliable transport, and the best standard of living in human history. Discrediting science has zero positive effects, with one exception: Those who take stances against science are always compensated in some way for taking that stance. It can be quite easy to recognize these corrupt individuals and entities if you know what to look for.
And that’s what I’d like to teach you today – what to look for.
The first step is recognizing that what a person is exposed to on the media is not harmless. Reading puts information into your subconscious. Just like you wouldn’t eat food from the dumpster, you shouldn’t consume information you haven’t vetted. Otherwise, you might mistakenly recall the misinformation as a fact at a later date without remembering where you learned it from.
To remain free of these falsehoods, you’ll need to more actively evaluate three things before accepting new information…
Evaluate the Source
Before you even read the material, you should get into the habit of first asking yourself where it’s coming from. You’ll screen about 99% of the trash out there by simply asking the right questions:
- Who wrote it? Is an author listed? If so, is the author qualified? Do the credentials match the message? What else have they written? Could the author actually be a bot program or bad actor pushing an agenda?
- When did they write it? Is it still relevant? When was it last revised?
- Are sources listed or linked? Are they external sources? More than one? Do the sources corroborate the message? Are the sources expert or anonymous?
Evaluate the Message
If the source of the message passes muster, move on to the message itself:
- Is the goal to distribute truth or simply get a reaction from the reader? Is the message laden with alarmist and/or emotionally intense language? Was effort made to build a credible argument? Are claims backed up with evidence?
- How was it constructed? Are there lots of typos and mistakes? Is the title clickbait? Is information being cherry picked or taken out of context? Does it seem like the author was after quantity over quality? Are reputable media outlets posting the same message?
- What is the motivation behind it? Does the message benefit the author financially or politically? Are facts being distorted to suit those agendas?
- Is it inclusive of all relevant groups? Does the message intentionally exclude a particular group?
- Is it verifiable? Can the message be disproven with facts? Is the message attempting to discredit something without evidence (conspiracy theories)?
Evaluate YOURSELF
- How did I find the message? Did I use a neutral source like a search engine or did I go directly to my favorite website? Was the message delivered to me via a social media algorithm that caters to my less healthy biases?
- Why did I find the message? Could I be experiencing confirmation bias – did I find this message by searching for information to back up what I already believe to be true? If so, am I pairing that with a genuine search for information backing up what I believe to be false?
- How is the message making me feel? Am I having a strong emotional reaction? Am I going to spend money because of what I’m reading? Does the message require urgency? Do I immediately want to share or amplify what I’ve read? Is this message intended to cause toxic levels of outrage?
The above is all very relevant to what you’re trying to do: If you’re just surfing the web in your free time for fun, there’s less need to perfectly adhere to the above guidelines. But if you’re writing an academic paper or attempting to get informed about what’s happening in the world, then you absolutely should be using the above questions with a strict discipline.
I recommend checking out LSU Manship School’s Resource Guide to Fake News to learn more about how to protect yourself (and, in a respectful manner, call out others for fake news).