What is FAKE NEWS?

[apdst]

Does anyone have a non biased non politically charged definition of what FAKE NEWS is? I had thought that it referred to the presentation of material that the writer or presenter knew was false but was disguised and presented in such a way as to fool the reader that it was a legitimate news story.

But in the last 24 hours we see the term applied to a news story which parts could be immediately verified as truthful although the content that could be verified was not intended as false.

So what is your unpolitical charged definition of what FAKE NEWS is?

Anything that the Libbos don't like.

 

[HonestJoe]

The stories about Obama being a secret Muslim were published on websites too but I don't recall CNN running with it.

Yes, and that wasn’t “fake news”. As I said, whether it’s important or worthy is a different question and whether a particular news source chooses to report a news story is a different question. The topic of this thread is what is “fake news”.

 

[Fishking]

I add in all the stuff published by people who claim to know but never bothered to do any fact checking, usually because the story fits the narrative that they want to sell.

I can agree with that but it would be a sliding scale of standards, depending on the source. If it's a veteran reporter that knows how to research, is generally aware, and knows how to properly use the internet and understands context they will be held to a higher standard for fake news than your cousin Bobby who barely graduated High School.

 

[JackA]

And that is what we are trying to talk about here without the political loaded bias.

It's a good question, and topical. The OP doesn't know what a non sequitur is. It can never be a question.

We all know what fake news is. The National Enquirer has dealt in it for decades. The difference is that what used to be a joke we all were in on - at least most were readers were in on it, a kind of entertainment, like fake wrestling, fake news now is political ammunition, meant to be believed and it often is believed. Years ago if you saw a headline in the magazine section at the checkout counter, "Elizabeth Taylor Impregnated by Martian", you didn't hurry home to ask your wife or husband, "Have you HEARD.....!?" But in our season of political hate meshed with everyday ignorance and stupidity, the headline, "Hillary Clinton Found Operating Child Sex Ring", finds a ready and willingly gullible readership.

 

[celticwar17]

No. You are conflating poor reporting with fake news. The big difference is intent. Poor reporting woud intend to do it right and ****s it up. Fake news sets out from the start trying to decieve by propogating what they know is an outright lie.

Poor reporting results in Fake news lol...poor reporting can sometimes result in real news...But in the case of CNN their poor reporting turned out to be FAKE news, because of their poor reporting, because I think a big motivator for their poor reporting was for headlines, for slander, and for nefarious reasons.

 

[haymarket]

There is no "true meaning" of the term "fake news". THAT is the point. The term started being bandied about by disgruntled Hillary supporters as a reason for why she lost the election. THOSE people didn't define it either. They applied it to the multitude of reports that cast Hillary in a negative light whether they were partially true, not true at all, misleading, or a combination of all three. What has happened with the term since is simply a case of "what's good for the goose..."

Fake news has pretty much become a buzz word for anything politically driven. We used to call that propaganda. Same thing, different name.

So this use by Trump is merely an attempt to deprive his opponents of a term applied to the right wing that describes a tactic which benefitted him..

 

[Jack Fabulous]

So this use by Trump is merely an attempt to deprive his opponents of a term applied to the right wing that describes a tactic which benefitted him..

Actually, I believe he used the term "fake news" because it's trendy. "Political propaganda" is SO twentieth century...

 

[haymarket]

The stories about Obama being a secret Muslim were published on websites too but I don't recall CNN running with it.

Why is that relevant to what fake news is?

 

[haymarket]

Actually, I believe he used the term "fake news" because it's trendy. "Political propaganda" is SO twentieth century...

And I believe he used to it attempt to deflect from the right wing using it.

 

[Jack Fabulous]

Why is that relevant to what fake news is?

Because I said so.

 

[Lakryte]

Does anyone have a non biased non politically charged definition of what FAKE NEWS is? I had thought that it referred to the presentation of material that the writer or presenter knew was false but was disguised and presented in such a way as to fool the reader that it was a legitimate news story.

But in the last 24 hours we see the term applied to a news story which parts could be immediately verified as truthful although the content that could be verified was not intended as false.

So what is your unpolitical charged definition of what FAKE NEWS is?

I'm not sure what is confusing about the term. Fake news is news that is literally fake. I.e. someone just made it up. Why do people do this? Because idiots on facebook post fake news and share it, or email it, generating tons of views for the fake news article. The writer makes ad revenue for every view.