In week one, we got started by trying to define what exactly fake news is, and the impact it has on the media industry and broader society. As I now understand it, fake news refers to the deliberate spread of disinformation to deceive people, usually for financial or ideological reasons. Fake news as a phenomenon has evolved over time, and is only growing more pervasive through the proliferation of social media platforms like Twitter. As explained in this week’s reading Defining Fake News, ‘contemporary discourse, particularly media coverage, seems to define fake news as referring to viral posts based on fictitious accounts made to look like news reports (138)’.

As the term ‘fake news’ is so ubiquitous right now, I was surprised to learn that it’s definitely not a new phenomenon (or rather, it wasn’t ushered in with the Trump presidency). Though fake news as a term has only been popularized recently, the deliberate spread of misinformation and propaganda has been around for decades. As noted in the reading, ‘it has a long legacy reaching back centuries, but even in the past decade, it has shifted meaning. A review of previous studies that have used the term fake news reveals six types of definition: (1) news satire, (2) news parody, (3) fabrication, (4) manipulation, (5) advertising, and (6) propaganda’ (146)’.

After we got a gauge on what fake news means and why disinformation in the media is so dangerous, we got to speak with Sushi Das who is the senior researcher of ABC Fact Check. She shared with us the importance of fact-checking contentious information, especially in modern times. One thing she placed emphasis on was that ABC Fact Check isn’t about the ‘gotcha’, preferring to research rising ‘fake news’ facts that are growing in popularity. It probably shouldn’t have, but this surprised me as I am very much used to media outlets and Internet users alike trying to use the ‘gotcha’ method to undermine each other’s ideas.

I went into this studio thinking that I was already pretty knowledgable about what fake news is, but it’s clear I have a lot more to learn!

 

  • Edson C. Tandoc Jr., Zheng Wei Lim & Richard Ling (2018) Defining “Fake News”, Digital Journalism, 6:2, 137-153