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See also: Fake news (disambiguation) and Fake news website
Graphic on fake news by VOA

Fake news is a type of hoax published in news media with the intent to mislead in order to gain financially or politically.[1] If often employs eye-catching headlines or entirely fabricated news-stories in order to increase readership and online sharing through social media.[1] Profit is made in a similar fashion to clickbait and relies on ad-revenue generated regardless of the veracity of the published stories.[1] Easy access to ad-revenue, increased political polarization and the ubiquity of the Facebook newsfeed have been implicated in the spread of fake news.[2][1] Anonymously hosted websites lacking known publishers have also been implicated, because they make it difficult to prosecute sources of fake news for slander.[3][4][5][6] Fake news is similar to the concept of yellow journalism and political propaganda, frequently employing the same strategies used by early 20th century penny presses.[7][8][9]

In late 2016 fake news gained notoriety following the uptick in news-content in the Facebook newsfeed,[10][2] and its prevalence on the micro-blogging site Twitter.[10] With a large portion of Americans using Facebook or Twitter to receive news,[11] in combination with increased political polarization, filter bubbles, the tendency for readers to mainly read headlines - fake news was implicated in influencing the 2016 American presidential election.[12][13] Fake news saw higher sharing on Facebook than legitimate news stories,[14][15][16] which analysts explained was because fake news often panders to expectations or is otherwise more exciting than legitimate news.[15][9] Fake news is often spread through the use of fake news websites, specializing in made up attention-grabbing news, while often impersonating widely known news sources in order to gain credibility.[17][18][19] Fake news items have occasionally spread from such sites to more well-established news-sites resulting in scandals including "Pizzagate".[20]

The origin of fake news is disputed, with accounts claiming it is part of a coordinated Russian propaganda effort aimed at the West. Hillary Clinton was a prime target of fake news during her 2016 presidential candidacy, and it has been claimed that her loss can be blamed on fake news. Following Donald Trump's election it has been suggested that Angela Merkel has become the new primary target of fake news in the run-up to the 2017 German federal election.[21] While the Facebook newsfeed has been heavily implicated in the spread of fake news, and the resulting effects of fake news – Facebook itself initially denied this characterization.[22] In the aftermath of the American election and the run-up to the German election Facebook has begun labeling inaccurate news together with and warning users of fake news.[23][24][25]

History

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Definition

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Fake news has been defined as news which is "completely made up and designed to deceive readers to maximise traffic and profit".[26] News satire is a similar concept but does not strictly fall under this definition.[26]

Controversy

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Hunt, Elle (2016-12-17). "What is fake news? How to spot it and what you can do to stop it". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  2. ^ a b Woolf, Nicky (2016-11-29). "How to solve Facebook's fake news problem: experts pitch their ideas". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  3. ^ "Who's to blame for fake news and what can be done about it?". Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  4. ^ Callan, Paul. "Sue over fake news? Not so fast". CNN. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  5. ^ Harvey, Kerric; author; Media, the Encyclopedia of Social; Politics. "Did Social Media Ruin Election 2016?". NPR.org. Retrieved 2017-01-15. {{cite web}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  6. ^ Woolf, Nicky (2016-11-17). "As fake news takes over Facebook feeds, many are taking satire as fact". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  7. ^ "To Fix Fake News, Look To Yellow Journalism | JSTOR Daily". JSTOR Daily. 2016-11-29. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  8. ^ "Russian propaganda effort helped spread 'fake news' during election, experts say". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  9. ^ a b Agrawal, Nina. "Where fake news came from — and why some readers believe it". latimes.com. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  10. ^ a b "The Long and Brutal History of Fake News". POLITICO Magazine. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  11. ^ Gottfried, Jeffrey; Shearer, Elisa (2016-05-26). "News Use Across Social Media Platforms 2016". Pew Research Center's Journalism Project. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  12. ^ "Forget Facebook and Google, burst your own filter bubble". Digital Trends. 2016-12-06. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  13. ^ Solon, Olivia (2016-11-10). "Facebook's failure: did fake news and polarized politics get Trump elected?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  14. ^ "This Analysis Shows How Fake Election News Stories Outperformed Real News On Facebook". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  15. ^ a b "Just how partisan is Facebook's fake news? We tested it". PCWorld. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  16. ^ "Fake news is dominating Facebook". 6abc Philadelphia. 2016-11-23. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  17. ^ Chen, Adrian (2015-06-02). "The Agency". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-12-25.
  18. ^ LaCapria, Kim (2 November 2016), "Snopes' Field Guide to Fake News Sites and Hoax Purveyors - Snopes.com's updated guide to the internet's clickbaiting, news-faking, social media exploiting dark side.", Snopes.com, retrieved 19 November 2016
  19. ^ Ben Gilbert (15 November 2016), "Fed up with fake news, Facebook users are solving the problem with a simple list", Business Insider, retrieved 16 November 2016, Some of these sites are intended to look like real publications (there are false versions of major outlets like ABC and MSNBC) but share only fake news; others are straight-up propaganda created by foreign nations (Russia and Macedonia, among others).
  20. ^ "Evidence ridiculously thin for Clinton sex network claim". @politifact. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  21. ^ "Angela Merkel replaces Hillary Clinton as prime target of fake news, analysis finds". Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  22. ^ Isaac, Mike (2016-11-12). "Facebook, in Cross Hairs After Election, Is Said to Question Its Influence". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  23. ^ Stelter, Brian (2017-01-15). "Facebook to begin warning users of fake news before German election". CNNMoney. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  24. ^ "Clamping down on viral fake news, Facebook partners with sites like Snopes and adds new user reporting". Nieman Lab. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  25. ^ Kuchler, Hannah (January 15, 2017). "Facebook rolls out fake-news filtering service to Germany". Financial Times. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  26. ^ a b Hunt, Elle (2016-12-17). "What is fake news? How to spot it and what you can do to stop it". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-01-15.

Further reading

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Category:Criticism of journalism Category:Disinformation operations Category:Journalistic hoaxes Category:News media manipulation Category:Propaganda techniques

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