This week, we further discussed what could motivate someone to create fake news content. Last week I learned that ‘two main motivations underlie the production of fake news: financial and ideological’ (138). However, it seems that the lines become blurry when we discuss satire, or the differences between misinformation and disinformation.
While disinformation refers to the deliberate  spread of false or misleading information in order to deceive audiences, misinformation is the inadvertent  spread of false or misleading information. Meaning, that should I choose to share an article on my social media pages that I believe to be truthful, I could be complicit in sharing fake news should that article prove to contain false information or facts. This adds a whole new layer to the discussion of what constitutes fake news and who is complicit. While misinformation is just as damning as disinformation, it is generally produced accidentally through either ignorance or poor research. Regardless, both terms are dangerous in the media sphere and evidence that fact-checking is incredibly important.

What was most interesting to me this week was discussing the role of satire in fake news. While shows like The Daily Show or Full Frontal with Samantha Bee obviously produce fake news while satirizing the real news, it is clear that this form of fake news isn’t dangerous as their intention is blatantly clear. Where the lines are blurred is with satirical websites that aren’t so transparent about their intent. We watched a segment of Full Frontal, where Mike Rubens interviewed ‘fake news provider’ Jestin Coler who has created over a dozen fake news websites. The website produces ‘gun-grabbing, pro-abortion, anti-Obama, anti-Hillary, anti-muslim or anti-Mexican’ stories, in what Coler has described as an attempt to ‘infiltrate the right-wing’. While the websites are satirical, this isn’t immediately obvious and the intentions are not clear. The stories on these websites have been shared millions of times, a clear example of a deliberate attempt to spread disinformation.

After this class, I have become really intrigued in learning more about the role of satire in fake news. I’m really eager to learn about how complicit some satirical content is in spreading dangerous false facts and information.