How Fake News Has Plagued 2017

 FAKE NEWS: TWITTER EDITION




This article talks about how fake news has taken over and become a house hold term in our country this past year. So many of the devastating things that have happened this year such as, school shootings, natural disasters etc have been trivialized. For example, once news of the terror attack on London many "news outlets" and people took to social media to post about it. Many tweets were being posted making it look like it was the people who were involved in the attack but that wasn't the case at all. The article mentions "Another tweet, shared more than 35,000 times, was from a user claiming his brother and sister were missing. But the image shared was taken before the attack and a Twitter user said it was actually a photo of a younger version of himself." This explains just how deceitful some people are and how far they are willing to go for fifteen minutes of fame.


 






 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-42487425

During 2017 President Trump raved on Twitter about “fake news” and the sources that circulate these stories. He tweeted about his upcoming Fake News Awards in which he would rank the news sources that spread the “fake news”. “Subjects [which] will cover Dishonesty & Bad Reporting in various categories from the Fake News Media.” Many popular news sites such as; CNN, The Washington Post, News Week, ABC News, and the New York Times were all listed along with their “fake news” articles that got them a spot on the list. The Fake News Awards come after President Trump had a tough year fighting all of the biased media, false claims, accusatory statements, and negative news that swarms the media. Once all the fake news sources/stories had been listed, there was a list of all the accomplishments that President Trump has made since becoming POTUS.

A story has gone viral claiming the “March for Our Lives’ permit application was made months before the Parkland shooting. The story was entirely based off of misunderstanding and initiates that the shooting was completely staged and the rally was submitted months before February 14th, the day the shooting took place. The story was based off of an email exchange between James Fetzer and Scott Earhardt. Earhardt, a police officer for Washington D.C. MPD, suggested the rally was permitted way before the school shooting that left 17 students dead. He stated in the email, “In reference to your inquiry concerning the March For Our Lives Demonstration, here in the District of Columbia on March 24, 2018. MPD received a permit application several months prior to the actual event, and there was several months of planning for this large event”. FellowshipoftheMinds took this information and ran with it before confirming if it was factual information. Earhardt later confirmed that he confused “March For Our Lives” and March For Life”. MPD confirmed that “March For Our Lives” Permit Application for the rally was received February 21, one week after the deadly school shooting.

 

Kim Kardashian West calls out fake news regarding husband, Kanye West. “Yeezy Mafia” posted a tweet stating that Kanye West “had stockists show up to an empty showroom and didn't present any apparel or accessories for his label's seventh collection because he couldn’t do what he wanted to achieve with the line”. Kim quickly shut down the rumors by tweeting multiple tweets stating, “How can a verified account represent Yeezy with false information," she wrote. "You do NOT work for Yeezy and NOT affiliated. How are you gonna believe an account that posts fake colorways”. But Kim wasn't finished there, she went on to add that the abandoned showroom was intentional and that the looks would be posted online on her Instagram page.

McDonald Pot-Smoking Center

Supposedly there are 15 restaurants in the state of Colorado that have transformed or plan to transform play areas into pot-smoking centers.  Sure why not care about the health of the children; just give them second hand smoke. McDonald's spokesman Khim Aday says he "can confirm 100 percent that this is not true." “He said the false story has circulated since 2015. The story said two Denver restaurants had completed the conversion, while the other 13 were planning completion renovations by the end of 2015. Legal recreational pot sales in Colorado began in 2014.” Wouldn’t this have been wonderful for those who smoke and have the munchies at the same time? Well make in 2030. When marijuana is not illegal and everyone is doing it.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/real-news-mcdonalds-adding-pot-smoking-centers-54557817

Suge Knight Death Hoax

Not sure if I heard about this article, but apparently it supposed to been shared over 50,000 times on facebook. I guess didn’t too many people care enough. This didn’t even make my instagram timeline and I follow a lot of people and blogs. Apparently he suppose to died over food.  Over a chicken bone. Now this is funny for someone to create a fake article about not only someone death, but dying over a chicken bone.  Someone was in desperate need for a story line, sorry try again because it didn’t reach 50,000 people. LOL!! The article goes on to quote a prison guard named “Jack Napier” as saying Knight was found dead in his cell after a fight with another prisoner over food. Jack Napier is the real name of the Joker given in the 1989 Batman movie.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/suge-knight-dead/

Man Arrested for Sharing Fake News?

"On Wednesday, the Goa Police Crime branch arrested 35-year-old, Kenneth Silveira for posting a fake Facebook post about Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's medical condition" (Bureau, 2018). The man shared a post on Facebook that Parrikar had passed away, but that was not true at all. Parrikar is alive and was only undergoing treatment for his illness. Even after he posted about Parrikar's "passing" people corrected him and he refused to take his post down. He was arrested for posting fake news as well as not cooperating with the police. Be careful what you read online! Nothing is trustworthy nowadays.

https://www.newsx.com/national/facebookgoa-man-arrested-for-fake-news-on-manohar-parrikars-death

What to Avoid??

Pace University has created two lists on what to do when reading the news and also what to avoid when trying to find a trustworthy article. Some of the things to avoid are...

• Distorted headlines (ones "to generate likes, shares, and profits" (Pace University, 2018).)
• Unreliable websites (do your research!!)
• Social media descriptions or clickbait headlines
• Funny websites trying to post about politics or other serious topics

There are only a few of the many things to avoid when looking for a reliable website. Always do your research and make sure the article your reading is coming from a legit website or platform.

http://libguides.pace.edu/fakenews