What Is Fake News?
Fake news is something that has recently been pointed out by the president Donald Trump during his campaign called CNN a fake network due to giving “fake news”. After these accusations fake news has been something that people started talking about and started asking questions about. Fake news is news that is not accurate and is also not trustable. Fake news is information that has been shared by a news network with dishonesty, mostly to promote political movements or parties, also known as bias.
What Is Bias?
Bias is defined as prejudice in favor of or against of something, Bias can be used in many different ways, for example In news networks, the news network says things to side with someone or in many cases they may not share certain information to make one side of a story seem more trustworthy or right rather than the other. However there are many ways to avoid fake news and how to identify it.
How to avoid fake news?
A method that helps is the, “E.S.C.A.P.E” evaluator. The first step is E: evidence, you should consider weather the information looks trustworthy, try spotting for accurate dates, names, numbers, places and documents. S: source, trace who the author is, the pusblisher, founders, aggregators, and social media users. Many times when the author is identified you can see if that author is professional and can give trustable and real news. C: context, consider if this is the full story, is there something missing? Think of current events, political goals, financial pleasures, and cultural trends. A: audience, who is this information intended for? Is there a certain group that this is attempting to appeal? Observe image choices, presentation techniques, language, and content. P: purpose, why was this article/ news made? Look for a motive, what is the publishers mission, purpose or goal? Is there a use of persuasive language or images? Money making tactics or calls to action? E: execution, How is this information presented? Check the style, grammar, tone, image choices, placement and layout.
It’s important to avoid fake news.
Many people do not see the seriousness in spotting fake news. However they fail to see that it’s important to, because the people run the country and it is important for them to stay informed. It is also important to get the facts and to know what is really going on especially when it comes to bias. To avoid bias points of views and get both sides of the story, there needs to be real news. Fake news also spreads very quickly and then millions of people around the world get that false information. So to avoid believing fake news you should always check if it’s fake and make sure if their information is reliable and relevant.