•We live in a world where we have access to more

information, more quickly than ever before.

•But that same information explosion makes it

possible for people to share false information just as

easily as facts.

•Have you ever been fooled by a fake “news story”?

What’s News?

Anyone remember this news story?

Did you click? Did you believe it? Why or why

not?

Try this quiz:http://www.buzzfeed.com/tanyachen/quiz-is-this-canadian-headline-

real-or-fake

Can you tell a real headline

from a fake one?

•...a lot of real “news” stories are pretty

quirky and odd, which makes it easier

for people who make up fake news

stories to sound convincing.

•But why make up “fake news” in the

first place?

As the quiz illustrates ...

1. Satire

2. Hoaxes

3. Fringe opinions

“Fake News” falls into

three broad categories:

•Satire is the use of humour, irony or exaggeration to

make a point – often to criticize what the writer sees as

a problem in society.

•Satire “news” sites post false news stories for

humourous effect.

•Often, they make the reader laugh at something

ridiculous in our contemporary world.

SATIRE

•Though some people are fooled into thinking satire

stories are real, the main intent is not to deceive, but to

amuse.

•Satire sites clearly advertise that what they write is

satire (though you may have to look around for the

disclaimer).

SATIRE

One of the original satirical news websites, and still one

of the best-known, is The Onion, famous for headlines

like ...

Here, the target of satire is American “real” news network CNN. Many

people feel network news overemphasizes stories that create fea; the

Onion story satirizes this tendency.

There’s a lot of (real) controversy over what should and shouldn’t be

taught in school sex-ed courses. That provided a perfect opportunity

for Canadian satire radio show “This is That” to produce the

following satire piece ...

LISTE

N

Check out the radio story on the Saskatchewan

“kissing classes” at the link below (you’ll need to

copy and past the link). Notice how the piece is

structured to sound very much like a genuine

radio news report.

http://tinyurl.com/hwwqarn

Watch the video that follows.

What is the target of satire in this

“news story”?

•While a “hoax” may also involve a fake

news story that looks like a real one, the

intent is different.

•The purpose of a hoax is to fool the

reader/viewer

HOAX

•This may be done to make money (many sites

earn advertising revenue just by getting people

to click on their page)

•Other times, people create hoaxes just for the

fun of proving they can fool people

HOAX

British Scientists Clone

Dinosaur From the Newshound website, March 2014

Scientists at Liverpool's John Moore University have successfully cloned a dinosaur, a spokesman from the university said yesterday. The dinosaur, a baby Apatosaurus nicknamed "Spot," is currently being incubated at the University's College of Veterinary Medicine. The scientists extracted DNA from preserved Apatosaurus fossils, which were on display at the university's museum of natural science. Once the DNA was harvested, scientists injected it into a fertile ostrich womb. "Ostriches share a lot of genetic traits with dinosaurs," said Dr. Gerrard Jones, a biology professor at LJMU and the project's leading scientist.

British Scientists Clone

Dinosaur From the Newshound website, March 2014

Scientists at Liverpool's John Moore University have successfully cloned a dinosaur, a spokesman from the university said yesterday. The dinosaur, a baby Apatosaurus nicknamed "Spot," is currently being incubated at the University's College of Veterinary Medicine. The scientists extracted DNA from preserved Apatosaurus fossils, which were on display at the university's museum of natural science. Once the DNA was harvested, scientists injected it into a fertile ostrich womb. "Ostriches share a lot of genetic traits with dinosaurs," said Dr. Gerrard Jones, a biology professor at LJMU and the project's leading scientist.

How do we know this is a fake?

Known hoax site

No record this guy exists at that

university

Also, it turns out this is a picture

of a baby kangaroo

Many hoaxes are harmless, but others can

provide dangerous misinformation...

...especially since real news outlets are sometimes fooled and

repost these stories as if they are true (this is a growing problem

since newspapers and TV channels have less money than they

once had to hire fact-checkers)

In the 2016 US Election, “fake

news” (intentional hoaxes) played

a big role In fact, many people believe that fake news stories may

have had enough influence to affect the outcome of the

election.

Some analysis showed people were more likely to click on

hoax news stories online than real news.

In the 2016 US Election, “fake

news” (intentional hoaxes) played

a big role

In the weeks following the election, several hoax-

writers were interviewed. They admitted to writing

fake headlines like these, mainly for the

advertising revenue. Often the hoax writers were

shocked at how many people believed them.

Some experts now suggest that Russia may have

been involved in helping this American “fake

news” to become popular, with the goal of helping

to elect Donald Trump. Only time will tell the truth

of these claims, but it makes it even more

important to be a smart news-reader and able to

spot hoaxes!

The whole issue of “fake news” has

become very political As Google and Facebook announced that they were trying

to crack down on “fake news” on their sites, hundreds of people responded online by claiming that any news media they disagreed with was “fake.”

While there’s always room for different opinions, remember: if a “news” story claims something happened, and there’s no evidence that that thing actually did happen, it’s FAKE NEWS.

But it’s getting a lot harder to tell the difference!

Notice what the site “Politicops” does: they advertise that they are a news/satire hybrid, and offer a button that allows you to turn on and off the “facts” in story. For example, check out:

http://politicops.com/gop-candidate-calls-melania-trump-to-sterilize-the-white-house-after-the-animals-departure/

How many people do you think share Politicops stories without noticing either the disclaimer or the button? Would you have noticed???

There was a time when people assumed if you saw

a photo or video, that proved the story must be true

...

This fake image of the British royal family taking a selfie went viral – and

this one didn’t even require any photoshop tricks. Just a bunch of royal

family lookalikes and a good photographer!

Even video can’t be trusted!

The viral video that follows

was shared by millions of

people online ...

...but it was quickly revealed

as a clever hoax, as you’ll see

in the next video.

1. Is the site reporting it a reliable site? Check their

“About” section. Most satire websites carry a disclaimer;

many hoax sites don’t. Also, check other stories on the

same site.

Questions to ask if a news story

seems sketchy ....

Questions to ask if a news story

seems sketchy ....

2. Are other sites carrying the story? If you find the

story on more than one site, go on to ask:

3. Are all the stories word-for-word identical? If so,

they’re all cut-and-paste copies of the original

story, which is a bad sign.

Questions to ask if a news story

seems sketchy ....

4. Are any of the sites mainstream news sites? (In

Canada, think of sites like cbc.ca , globeandmail.com

, etc.). If not, ask yourself, why is the mainstream

media not carrying this story?

5. Do the facts of the story check out? While it takes

some special skill to analyze pictures to see if they’re

photoshopped or videos to see if they’ve been faked,

it’s not hard to Google names in a story to see if you

can independently confirm the facts.

Questions to ask if a news story

seems sketchy ....

6. Have sites like snopes.com, hoax-slayer.com,

or urbanlegends.about.com reported on it? The

people who run these sites have often done some

of the background research for you.

The Urban Legends page suggests these

five signs that a viral video might be a fake:

The post promotes lurid, shocking or offensive content:

“BREAKING NEWS!” “SHOCKING VIDEO!!” “YOU

WON’T BELIEVE THIS!!!”

It’s got a weird URL: "HotBootyVideos.cz,"

"BreekingNews.ph,“ or something equally sketchy.

You click the link and you’re redirected to a page that

looks like Facebook (or another trusted social media

site), but isn’t. Again, check the URL.

The Urban Legends page suggests these

five signs that a viral video might be a fake:

You’re asked to share a video BEFORE you can view

it. This is both spam and a scam – the goal is to get

you to spam your friends’ pages with this fake “news

story” or “shocking video.”

You’re prompted to complete a marketing survey or

download software. Now the scammers are making

their money from you.

A third category of “fake news” is more controversial because,

unlike satire or hoaxes, the people who post these stories

genuinely believe they are true. They represent perspectives

that people sincerely believe, but that are not supported by

most experts or most evidence.

Everyone has a right to an opinion. But opinions have to be

backed up by evidence. What about opinions that don’t match

up with mainstream views?

FRINGE OPINIONS

Most people believe ...

But a few people believe

...

Human use of fossil fuels is leading to disastrous climate change.

American astronauts landed on the moon in 1969.

The World Trade Center in NYC were destroyed by terrorists linked to Al-Qaeda on Sept. 11, 2001.

Vaccines are an important tool to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

Climate change is a hoax; it either isn’t happening or is caused naturally.

The moon landing was a clever fake.

The 9/11 terrorist attacks were an “inside job” by the US government.

Vaccines are dangerous and should be avoided; they don’t help prevent disease and can have deadly side effects.

You may know people who believe some of these

“fringe opinions” (or even believe some of them

yourself)

Again, everyone has a right to an

opinion.

But, be aware that if you want to

convince anyone of your opinion, you

need evidence.

When most experts hold a different

opinion, ask yourself: which position is

best supported by the evidence?

You may know people who believe some of these

“fringe opinions” (or even believe some of them

yourself)

When you read a news story that promotes a

non-mainstream point of view (for example, a

story that says a climate scientist denies

global warming), do a little digging!

The majority isn’t always right, and throughout

history, a few “fringe opinions” have turned out

to be true. But don’t assume someone’s telling

the truth just because they claim to have

some secret knowledge everyone is covering

up!

So, a quick recap ... SATIRE stories are produced with the intention of

making you laugh, and maybe poking fun at an

issue people take seriously. Satire websites

usually state plainly that what they publish is

satire, but some people are still fooled into

thinking they’re reading real news stories –

especially if the satire piece supports an opinion

they already hold. Strong opinions can make us

miss the obvious satire clues, because we want

the story to be true.

So, a quick recap ... HOAX stories are produced with the intention of

deceiving people into thinking they’re real, often

as a money-making scam. Hoax sites don’t always

clearly advertise that their stories are not true and

often don’t insert obvious jokes like satire sites

do – so people are more often fooled by them

(after all, that’s the point!)

So, a quick recap ... FRINGE OPINIONS are posted by people who

sincerely believe what they are posting is true –

but it often doesn’t line up with mainstream

knowledge and may be poorly supported by

evidence. Remember to evaluate everything you

see, hear, and read with a critical eye!

There’s no foolproof way to avoid

being fooled every time ...

...but if you learn to read and view everything with

a little skepticism, you’ll be less likely to be fooled.

Check the source! Where are you getting your

“information”?

Check what other people have to say about the

story.

Do a little digging – if it seems too good/bad/weird

to be true, it often is! (Though, reality can be

pretty weird too)

There’s no foolproof way to avoid

being fooled every time ...

Examine your own biases – we’re more likely

to fall for hoaxes and misinformation when the

stories line up with something we already

believe.

Don’t share a story until you’re sure it’s true.

That way, you don’t add the problem of

misinformation!

And, a final thought some of

you may remember from

childhood ...