Fake news: definition, spread, and societal impact

The Real from the Fake
Fake news is a phenomenon that arguably arose during the present decade. It has become a catchword, a battle cry, or perhaps just the repeated punch line of jokes. In that sense, it is similar to the world ‘selfie’ a few years ago. Nonetheless, fake news is more important than photographs and paraphernalia designed to promote the taking of photographs of one’s self. It has the power to distort the truth and, in doing so, influence actions that are unmistakably true. Fake news can become the basis of reality, depending on how exactly people choose to react to it. As such, there is a great deal of importance attributed to defining fake news, in order to successfully understand it and to counteract some of its less than desired outcomes. To that end, fake news is defined within this paper as news reports that are either knowingly or deliberately inaccurate and which mislead the people by subverting the truth.
Perhaps the most prominent of the three parts of this definition is the fact that fake news is inaccurate. There are certainly few people or sources that would argue with this aspect of the definition. If a news report is true, then by definition it cannot be considered fake news. Fake news is the deliberate perpetuation of news which is falsehood (LaCapria). Accurate news, such as that found on credible news sites, is not fake news. This simple reality is actually the defining point of understanding exactly what fake news is. It is falsehood that is inaccurate. To that end fake news is wrong. It makes claims or presents information that is incorrect. This aspect of fake news is critical to understanding what this term actually means.
Another revealing aspect of fake news that is foundational to its definition is the fact its inaccuracy is either deliberate or known to the entities spreading the news. This point is extremely important. Actual news reports may include factual or statistical errors—such as the misspelling of a person’s name. In most of these incidents the errors were unknown or unintended by those who either made or published them. Fake news, by definition, is the exact opposite. It is inaccurate news which people realize is incorrect, yet still disseminate as though the news were real. The deliberate intention of spreading false news as true is a basic characteristic of fake news, in which “In its purest form, fake news is completely made up, manipulated to resemble credible journalism and attract maximum attention and, with it, advertising revenue” (Hunt). This quotation makes it clear that there is intention associated with fake news to pass off unreality as reality. That is why fake news is deliberately manipulated, because there is some source of the fake news that is attempting to disguise it as truthful news. Worse, this quote reveals that fake news can also be a calculated fabrication, something which is simply made up to attract media attention. This quotation also revels part of the reason why people go to such lengths to create fake news. By getting others to share or click on their fake news, they can drive advertising profits. Thus, there are a number of people making a point to deliberately fool people with fake news so that they can simply capitalize on the media hype. All of these aspects of fake news are part of its definition. Still, the main category of its definition they are part of is the fact that someone creating fake news is aware of the fact that it is inaccurate in some way, shape or form.
The final part of this paper’s definition of fake news is it is inherently designed to mislead people away from the truth. There are some aspects of this component of the definition that are implied in the other two. If one is deliberately publishing inaccurate news, more than likely that person is trying to subvert the truth. In reality, however, fake news makes unending attempts to simply disguise, hide, or even trample on the truth. The most critical factor about this part of the definition is it gets people to react in ways that they would not have had they known the truth. There are several examples of this part of the definition of fake news. Perhaps the most immediate pertains to the present commander in chief of the United States armed forces. In the final days of his election, his team of supporters published numerous fake news stories that disparaged the Democrats and effectively swayed voters to his side. The reports were able to mask the truth and make it seems as though the commander in chief and his agenda were better than the opposition. In this respect there is an aim to the inaccuracute, deliberate intentions of fake news. It is always used to confuse and mislead people away from the truth.
In summary, there are three parts to the definition of fake news. It is reports or allegations that are inaccurate, deliberately so, and made that way to hide the truth from those people who either read it or hear about it. This definition is applicable to every instance of fake news. Where it varies in the intention and the particular truth it is leading people away from. The intention of some suppliers of fake news may be to get votes. The intention of others may be to make money advertising.
Works Cited
Hunt, Elle. “What is fake news? How to spot it and what you can do to stop it.” The Guardian. 2016. Web. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/dec/18/what-is-fake-news-pizzagate
LaCapria, Kim. “6 Quick Ways to Spot Fake News”. www.snopes.com 2016. Web. https://www.snopes.com/news/2016/01/21/6-quick-ways-spot-fake-news/