To start:
- What does the phrase “fake news” mean?
- non-reputable source, can’t fact check
- opinions seen as facts
- facts that might come from a reputable source, but the source is biased
- falsified news, manipulated news for a personal agenda
- news=report of something that happened; fake news=part is exaggerated, or made up, or is so manipulated to be swaying from the truth
- “click-bait”–headline that once you read into it, the content doesn’t reflect the headline, designed to generate “clicks”
- the onion is self-proclaimed “fake news”–the intent is satire, not misleading–is it the same? The Daily Show? The Colbert Report? (obvious satire, based on real news)
- When have you or someone you know fallen for or shared fake or inaccurate news of some kind?
- twitter-headline-only study
- fellow-soldier going over current information for boards; found a story in the onion
- conspiracy theories (Mom loves them) from YouTube and elsewhere
- a friend sharing that Johnny Depp is moving to Michigan (he’s not).
- a friend in h.s. posted about the Catcher in the Rye being banned, didn’t read from article, shared it widely, and it was for Switzerland
- MLK quote that went viral (wasn’t an MLK quote)
- Fake Donald Trump quote “Republican voters are stupid”
- Why does it matter if we can’t tell real news from fake news?
- why do we look to news sources? to take action? then it becomes extremely important.
- choosing to believe and follow a lie vs. the truth–can have drastic consquences
- real news–investigative journalism takes a lot of resources, the public needs that for democracy to function; freedom of the press is part of our constitution to keep the government honest; blurring between real news/fake news means elected officials are not held to account as effectively
- Fake news and media in general have a strong influence on how the world works–if people believe something definitely and someone has a different opinion, it will start divisions and create deep divides and contention in the social fabric
- confirmation bias is a huge factor; it is so ubiquitous and limits our level of civil discourse, picking and choosing evidence to support chosen claims adds to division and entrenched opinions
- creates confusion and chaos
Next, read through the following two articles:
“Students Don’t Know What Fake News Is”
Talk through some images on this site.
Advanced Expository Writing 