Fake News

Fake news is based on falsehoods, not facts. It is a lie, masquerading as journalism. It feeds on the emotions of the reader with the goal of being spread, like a vicious rumor. Creators of fake news want their "articles" to go viral-- they may make money off of web advertisements, or they may want to influence the public for purposes of fearmongering, propaganda, or just as a prank.

Click here to jump to a text version of "What makes a news story fake?" and "Types of Fake News".

What Makes a News Story Fake?

1. It can't be verified. A fake news article may or may not have links in it tracing its sources; if it does, these links may not lead to articles outside of the site's domain or may not contain information pertinent to the article topic.
2. Fake news appeals to emotion. Fake news plays on your feelings: it makes you angry or happy or scared. This is to ensure you won't do anything as pesky as fact-checking.
3. Authors usually aren't experts. Most authors aren't even journalists, but paid trolls.
4. It can't be found anywhere else. If you look up the main idea of a fake news article, you might not find any other news outlet (real or not) reporting on the issue.
5. Fake news comes from fake sites. Did your article come from abcnews.com.co? Or mercola.com? Realnewsrightnow.com? These and a host of other URLs are fake news sites.

Types of Fake News

There are four broad categories of fake news, according to media professor Melissa Zimdars of Merrimack College.

Category 1: Fake, false, or regularly misleading websites that are shared on Facebook and social media. Some of these websites may rely on "outrage" by using distorted headlines and decontextualized or dubious information in order to generate likes, shares, and profits.

Category 2: Websites that may circulate misleading and/or potentially unreliable information.

Category 3: Websites which sometimes use clickbait-y headlines and social media descriptions.

Category 4: Satire/comedy sites, which can offer important critical commentary on politics and society, but have the potential to be shared as actual/literal news.

Some articles fall under more than one category. Assessing the content is crucial to understanding whether what you are viewing is true or not.